Daniel Rubin, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote the following article on what happened to 22 year old Rebecca Solomon.
January 21, 2010
In the tense new world of air travel, we're stripped of shoes, told not to take too much shampoo on board, frowned on if we crack a smile.
The last thing we expect is a joke from a Transportation Security Administration screener - particularly one this stupid.
Rebecca Solomon is 22 and a student at the University of Michigan, and on Jan. 5 she was flying back to school after holiday break. She made sure she arrived at Philadelphia International Airport 90 minutes before takeoff, given the new regulations.
She would be flying into Detroit on Northwest Airlines, the same city and carrier involved in the attempted bombing on Christmas, just 10 days before. She was tense.
What happened to her lasted only 20 seconds, but she says they were the longest 20 seconds of her life.
After pulling her laptop out of her carry-on bag, sliding the items through the scanning machines, and walking through a detector, she went to collect her things.
A TSA worker was staring at her. He motioned her toward him.
Then he pulled a small, clear plastic bag from her carry-on - the sort of baggie that a pair of earrings might come in. Inside the bag was fine, white powder.
She remembers his words: "Where did you get it?"
Two thoughts came to her in a jumble: A terrorist was using her to sneak bomb-detonating materials on the plane. Or a drug dealer had made her an unwitting mule, planting coke or some other trouble in her bag while she wasn't looking.
She'd left her carry-on by her feet as she handed her license and boarding pass to a security agent at the beginning of the line.
Answer truthfully, the TSA worker informed her, and everything will be OK.
Solomon, 5-foot-3 and traveling alone, looked up at the man in the black shirt and fought back tears.
Put yourself in her place and count out 20 seconds. Her heart pounded. She started to sweat. She panicked at having to explain something she couldn't.
Now picture her expression as the TSA employee started to smile.
Just kidding, he said. He waved the baggie. It was his.
And so she collected her things, stunned, and the tears began to fall.
Another passenger, a woman traveling to Colorado, consoled her as others who had witnessed the confrontation went about their business. Solomon and the woman walked to their gates, where each called for security and reported what had happened.
A joke? You're not serious. Was he hitting on her? Was he flexing his muscle? Who at a time of heightened security and rattled nerves would play so cavalierly with a passenger's emotions?
When someone is trying to blow planes out of the sky, what is a TSA employee doing with his eyes off the ball?
When she complained to airport security, Solomon said, she was told the TSA worker had been training the staff to detect contraband. She was shocked that no one took him off the floor, she said.
"It was such a violation," the Wynnewood native told me by phone. "I'd come early. I'd done everything right. And they were kidding about it."
I ran her story past Ann Davis, regional TSA spokeswoman, who said she knew nothing to contradict the young traveler's account.
Davis said privacy law prevents her from identifying the TSA employee. The law prevents her from disclosing what sort of discipline he might have received.
"The TSA views this employee's behavior to be highly inappropriate and unprofessional," she wrote. "We can assure travelers this employee has been disciplined by TSA management at Philadelphia International Airport, and he has expressed remorse for his actions."
Maybe he's been punished enough. That Solomon's father, Jeffrey, is a Center City litigator might mean this story isn't over.
In the meantime, I think the TSA worker should spend time following passengers through the scanners, handing them their shoes. Maybe he could tie them, too.
Update: Ann Davis, the TSA spokeswoman, said this afternoon that the worker is no longer employed by the agency as of today. She said privacy laws prevented her from saying if he was fired or left on his own.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Daniel Rubin
at 215-854-5917 or drubin@phillynews.com.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Introduction To This Website
In April of 2009 I was falsely charged and arrested for misdemeanor battery by a TSA agent in Burbank, California. Although I cannot go into details on my case at this time, I can say that the case is scheduled for dismissal in October 2010.
Because of my experience I have been able to network with others that have had similar traumatic episodes at the airports. I have set up an e-mail address where abuse can be reported; it is "TSA_abuse@hotmail.com"; that's TSA, underscore for the space, abuse.
The purpose of this blog is to highlight some of these events. My intention is to create a non-governmental reporting agency where abuses can be cited. If TSA agents know that they will be reported for unprofessional and/or unethical behavior, perhaps they will spend more time doing their job rather than harrassing the passengers as they go through the screening process.
There are some commonalities I have found in many of the abuses done by TSA. A few of them include things such as:
1. Refusal to cooperate with passenger's request for name and/or badge number.
2. False allegations made by TSA agent(s). These allegations often are translated as a criminal offense.
3. Onlooking TSA agents often laugh and joke at the scene with the passenger being abused.
4. When video is requested, it has either been destroyed or the cameras were not functioning and therefore no video was made.
I personally would not hesitate to record, on my camera or cell phone, abuse that was being done and give my contact information to the individual being abused. I would not provide my personal information to the TSA agents unless they told me I legally had to. The individual being abused should definitely file a complaint with TSA even though they will probably only get a letter of apology for "the uncomfortable experience" and an expression that they will try to use the information obtained to try to improve the screening process.
There have been so many complaints about the TSA screening process and abuses by TSA agents that Rep. Darrell Issa has begun an official investigation. The letter he wrote can be seen below; simply click on the box in the top right corner with the 4 arrows and the document will be enlarged:
TSA Investigation Underway -
I have actually had a few kind and rofessional agents help me in the airport. I wish I could say that the majority of the agents were that way, but at this time I cannot. It is indeed a shame that the negative behavior of some agents can create a negative image for all agents, including the good ones...but that's just the way it is. Maybe we can actually start to have the good agents reprimand and report the bad ones. Wouldn't that be a novel idea?
Because of my experience I have been able to network with others that have had similar traumatic episodes at the airports. I have set up an e-mail address where abuse can be reported; it is "TSA_abuse@hotmail.com"; that's TSA, underscore for the space, abuse.
The purpose of this blog is to highlight some of these events. My intention is to create a non-governmental reporting agency where abuses can be cited. If TSA agents know that they will be reported for unprofessional and/or unethical behavior, perhaps they will spend more time doing their job rather than harrassing the passengers as they go through the screening process.
There are some commonalities I have found in many of the abuses done by TSA. A few of them include things such as:
1. Refusal to cooperate with passenger's request for name and/or badge number.
2. False allegations made by TSA agent(s). These allegations often are translated as a criminal offense.
3. Onlooking TSA agents often laugh and joke at the scene with the passenger being abused.
4. When video is requested, it has either been destroyed or the cameras were not functioning and therefore no video was made.
I personally would not hesitate to record, on my camera or cell phone, abuse that was being done and give my contact information to the individual being abused. I would not provide my personal information to the TSA agents unless they told me I legally had to. The individual being abused should definitely file a complaint with TSA even though they will probably only get a letter of apology for "the uncomfortable experience" and an expression that they will try to use the information obtained to try to improve the screening process.
There have been so many complaints about the TSA screening process and abuses by TSA agents that Rep. Darrell Issa has begun an official investigation. The letter he wrote can be seen below; simply click on the box in the top right corner with the 4 arrows and the document will be enlarged:
TSA Investigation Underway -
I have actually had a few kind and rofessional agents help me in the airport. I wish I could say that the majority of the agents were that way, but at this time I cannot. It is indeed a shame that the negative behavior of some agents can create a negative image for all agents, including the good ones...but that's just the way it is. Maybe we can actually start to have the good agents reprimand and report the bad ones. Wouldn't that be a novel idea?
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