Rand Paul Allegedly Detained by TSA
From the official Twitter feed (I'm pretty sure!) of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas):
My son @SenRandPaul being detained by TSA for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner in Nashville. More details coming.
Will update as we get more.
UPDATE: Rand Paul's communications director, Moira Bagley, confirms.
UPDATE II: CNN Radio reporter Lisa Desjardins Tweets "Sen. Paul was willing to go thru scanner again, but he refused a pat down," and "He [went] thru scanner once, set it off. TSA insisted on pat down, he insisted on 2nd scan."
UPDATE III: The TSA comments to The Daily Caller:
The TSA says Sen. Rand Paul "was not detained at any point" but "triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to complete the screening process in order to resolve the issue."
"Passengers, as in this case, who refuse to comply with security procedures are denied access to the secure gate area," the TSA adds. "He was escorted out of the screening area by local law enforcement."
"The passenger was screened by millimeter wave imaging technology using automated target recognition," the TSA continues. "This technology uses the same generic image for all passengers to further protect passengers privacy. When an alarm occurs a yellow box indicates where an anomaly is. A targeted pat down is used to resolve the alarm."
TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy told The Daily Caller that "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."
UPDATE IV: Public Radio International reporter Todd Zwillich:
"Sen Rand Paul is "headed to DC," spox sez. "Weird how the anomaly disappeared during the same screening process."
