My TSA Story

I was traveling from Houston (IAH) on Sunday, December 19, 2010 with my husband and 2 year old daughter. We prepared for screening as normal, emptying our liquids and dividing the small liquids in Ziploc bags. I enter the metal detector and am not cleared because of the excessive number of hair pins I left in my hair from a wedding the night before. I am told to hand my child to my husband so I can get pat down. Fine, I get it.

As I am waiting, a TSA agent tells me (not my husband), that our stroller will be coming out of a different scanner. I am then informed that I cannot touch anything, not even my daughter until I am cleared from the pat down. I then wait a few minutes (not seconds) for a TSA agent (while my husband is left on his own to care for a 2 year old and gather all of our belongings).

The TSA agent (Agent A) then begins her speech of what she is going to do. I interrupt her to ask for clarification on what the exact policy is for the pat down, where she begins to get irritated with me and continues on her prepared speech without answering my question. During this speech, I’m watching my husband and daughter to make sure everything is going okay. I then see the stroller going out of the other scanner and call to my husband so he can get it. TSA Agent A then yells at me and runs to grab someone else’s belongings. As I’m trying to explain to her that those are not my belongings and I was just pointing the stroller out to my husband, another agent (Agent B, LT50 Demeke) comes up to yell at me as well. Agent B, LT50 Demeke, informs me that I was being incredibly disrespectful and called it upon herself to oversee and verbally abuse me throughout the duration of the pat down. She also walks over to my husband to lecture him on how his wife needs to learn respect for the sake of our daughter.

I am then cleared and ask for Agent B’s name and ID badge number. Agent B, LT50 Demeke, then scatters my boarding documents over a table, grabs my driver’s license and boarding document, and takes it to her post to write down my information. When I tell her she has no right to take my things like that (remember she was not the individual who was assigned to perform my pat down), she told me that she did indeed have that right and also had the right to have me arrested if she wanted. She kindly gives me back my documents along with her name and wishes me a Merry Christmas.

I arrive at my destination and find that the bag that I checked did not leave the Houston airport. After speaking with a retired airport employee, I am quite certain that Agent B, LT 50 Demeke, used my identification and boarding documents to pull my suitcase off my flight for further inspection (of course with no intent other than pure malice).

This incident makes me sick. As an American citizen, I should have the right to not be harassed like this. TSA needs to have checks and balances. They should not be the god of the airport where they can do whatever they want to passengers. Agent B, LT50 Demeke, should be put on probation at the very least for this malicious and abusive behavior, if not fired. We deserve a right to speak up and create real change.

Another concern I have is this: what if my husband wasn’t there? Who would have looked after my daughter and belongings if I couldn’t touch them? I am scared to find out. So scared that I honestly feel sick thinking of flying again.

Please send this to anyone who will listen. Something needs to change. Mothers and families should not be targeted by TSA like this. Terrorists should be targeted. This is malicious, destructive behavior that needs to stop. If we don’t do something now, how far will we let it go? How many more basic rights will be taken away in the name of safety?