Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and son of Presidential hopeful Ron Paul, has created even more tension between himself and the federal government’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
STORY: The Principles Of Ron Paul
At a Nashville airport on Monday, Paul went through a scanner causing its alarm to sound. According to the Associated Press, Paul was confronted by TSA officers after he refused to let security pat him down to ensure he was clear. The scanners detected something metallic around his knee area.
Paul claims that the TSA “detained” him for a period of time, forcing him to miss an important Senate vote. The Senator was later escorted out of the TSA screening room by local police officials and boarded a later flight.
White House spokesman Jay Carney did not speak on Paul’s incident, but released a statement regarding airport security which read:
“Passengers, as in this case, who refuse to comply with security procedures, are denied access to the secure gate area… I think it is absolutely essential that we take necessary actions to ensure that air travel is safe and I believe that is what TSA is tasked with doing.”
Rand Paul’s father, Ron Paul, released a statement on the matter via his presidential campaign:
“The police state in this country is growing out of control. One of the ultimate embodiments of this is the TSA that gropes and grabs our children, our seniors, and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities. The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe. Let us go back through the machine rather than get a pat-down. You’ll get rid of a lot of the anger and animosity towards the TSA and towards what you’re doing, and give us a little more dignity when we travel. Just let us go back through the screener again – you know, I mean, people don’t want to have a pat-down.”
People have a right to be against airport security measures; however, Rand Paul’s absolute denial to receive a pat-down may spark a bigger problem.
If he can board flights without following through with TSA procedure, why can’t other Americans?
