Sen. Rand Paul runs afoul of the uniforms with wands at TSA

Vocal critic of the TSA, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and son of presidential hopeful Ron Paul, tangled with some stern TSA guards, who were apparently unimpressed by his congressional status.

The younger Paul ran into trouble at a Nashville airport when he set off a body scanner – twice – and then refused to submit to a full body search, as is routine in such circumstances.

The news was announced, as is common these days, via Twitter. Rand Paul's press aide, Moira Bagley wrote: “Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He's currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”

The elder Paul, Sen. Ron chimed in his own tweet: “My son @SenRandPaul being detained by TSA for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner in Nashville. More details coming.”

Rand Paul apparently set off the scanner when he raised his pant leg. Calling the incident a “glitch,” he asked to walk through the scanner a second time, with the same alarm following. TSA then demanded a full body search, which Paul refused.

The senator was not detained, but he was not allowed on the flight and he was allegedly escorted out of the checkpoint by police.

“When an irregularity is found during the TSA screening process, it must be resolved prior to allowing a passenger to proceed to the secure area of the airport. Passengers who refuse to complete the screening process cannot be granted access to the secure area in order to ensure the safety of others traveling,” said TSA spokesman Greg Soule without apology.

Paul was able to catch another flight later, and was able to pass through another security gate without incident. “The passenger has since rebooked on another flight and was rescreened without incident,” Soule added in a statement.

The senator’s run-in with the Transportation Security Administration, which is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was an ironic twist of fate in light of the fact that the senator is a critic of TSA. Last summer he blasted the agency during a congressional hearing on its policies and practices, especially those pertaining to the search of young children.

“You’ve gone overboard and you’re missing the boat on terrorism because you’re doing these invasive searches on six-year-old girls,” he said. “I think you oughta get rid of the random pat-downs. The American public is unhappy with them. They're unhappy with the invasiveness of them.”

We can only guess the senator gave the uniforms a piece of his mind this morning when he ran into the uncooperative scanner.

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Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

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