85-Year-Old Grandmother Says TSA Strip Searched Her
- Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:07pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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(The Blaze/AP) An 85-year-old woman said Saturday that she was injured and humiliated when she was strip searched at an airport after she asked to be patted down instead of going through a body scanner, allegations that transportation security officials denied.
Walker-bound Lenore Zimmerman said she was taken to a private room and made to take off her pants and other clothes after she asked to forgo the screening because she worried it would interfere with her defibrillator. She missed her flight and had to take one 2 1/2 hours later, she said.
“I’m hunched over. I’m in a wheelchair. I weigh under 110 pounds (50 kilograms),” she said from her winter home at a seniors community in Coconut Creek, Florida. “Do I look like a terrorist?”
But the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement Saturday that no strip search was conducted.
“While we regret that the passenger feels she had an unpleasant screening experience, TSA does not include strip searches as part of our security protocols and one was not conducted in this case,” the statement read.
Zimmerman was dropped off by her son at Kennedy Airport for a 1 p.m. flight Tuesday to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on JetBlue, she said. She arrived at the ticket counter around 12:20 p.m. and headed for security in a wheelchair, her small, metal walker in her lap.
She’s been traveling to Florida for at least a decade and has never had a problem being patted down until now, she said. “I worry about my heart, so I don’t want to go through those things,” she said, referring to the advanced image technology screening machines now in place at the airport.
As a result, she said, she was taken into the private screening room by a female agent and made to strip.
“Private screening was requested by the passenger, it was granted and lasted approximately 11 minutes,” the TSA statement read. “TSA screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy and that occurred in this instance.”
The private screening was not recorded.
A review of closed-circuit television at the airport showed that proper procedures before and after the screening were followed, Jonathan Allen, a TSA spokesman, said in a statement.
Zimmerman, who is 4′11″, said she banged her shin during the process and it bled “like a pig,” partly because she is on blood-thinning medication. She said an emergency medical technician patched her up, but she was told to see a doctor when she arrived in Florida to make sure the wound didn’t get infected. There are no records indicating medical attention was called on her behalf.
“I don’t know what triggered this. I don’t know why they singled me out,” she said.
Her son Bruce Zimmerman said he’d like to see someone fired and screeners re-trained after his mother’s ordeal.
“My mother is a little old woman. She’s not disruptive or uncooperative,” he said Saturday. “I don’t understand how this happened.”
The 85-year-old Long Island grandmother told the New York Daily News that she plans to sue the TSA after th humiliating strip search.
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Comments (94)
Fisher1949
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 4:24amThe report of an 85 year old woman being strip searched at JFK this week and left bleeding in the process raises some serious questions about the extent of the abuses rampant in our airports. TSA quickly denied that strip searches are not part of their screening protocol, which is clearly a lie in view of other similar reports this year.
Not only do they strip search an elderly woman but they have the audacity to record her humiliation on video. This is outrageous and several TSA workers and officials need to be sent to prison for this.
This is supposed to be America, not the Soviet Union and this is at least the fifth TSA strip search of a passenger this year including the strip search of Shoshana Hebshi in Detroit on September 11th. In that incident the agent moved her away from the toilet during the strip search so the video would not fully capture her image while she was naked.
They continue their assaults even after the victim is bleeding and only allow her treatment after they are finished, absolutely disgusting. This is inexcusable and Congress must prosecute the TSA management responsible for this in order to prevent such abuses in the future.
How extreme must these TSA travesties become before Congress demands that this be stopped? This is the same agency that has had 62 screeners arrested for serious crimes, including murder and 10 screeners charged with child sex crimes. This agency is out of control and needs to be abolished.
TSA Crimes & Abuses
Report Post »jcldwl
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 8:24amWake up people. Those of you who continue to fly are the same ones who will be herded into the re-education camps. The only way to stop these government intrusions into your privacy is to stop flying. I have and will not fly again.
Report Post »demint.disciple
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 8:31amHer son Bruce Zimmerman said he’d like to see someone fired and screeners re-trained after his mother’s ordeal. YEAH RIGHT , you care so much about mom that you dropped her off.. If it was me and my mom was even 65 years old I would be right by her side until she was on the plane.. What a maroon.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 8:56amThey stopped keeping records of events like this because of the outrage. They want everyone to go through the scanner and have their image with them forever. They let the lesbians and gays hand screen people as punishment for not going through the scanner. The last time I flew, which was probably before 9/11, you walked through a metal detector and if it went off, they had a wand they scanned you with. I saw one man who was searched, and that was going into Bermuda and he had body jewelry.
Report Post »kcares
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 9:35amI used to have to fly all the time, hated it, didn’t get paid for the time I was wasting sitting in airports, they are loud, no place for privacy unless you are in one of the expensive resturants, eating expensive, crappy food, and when I told my company I wouldn’t fly anymore, no more jobs. I work only on the internet, and this could have been done at home. The younger ones running companies today only care about the money, and they made extra from having us fly, renting cars, and the hotels we had to stay it. I will never fly again!!
Report Post »recoveringneocon
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 9:56amWhat I don’t understand is that when your crossing a boarder in and out of the U.S. or you get pulled over by the Police in a matter of seconds they know who you are and your criminal record. What do you think the cameras are for taking pics of your license plates?. Does the TSA not have this tech? You have to show them your ID how many times? You cant even buy the ticket without it. Who can fix this?
Report Post »PatriotNAmerica
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:24amWhere is the outrage? America has become a Nation of sheep.
Report Post »Secessionista
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 11:05amAmericans should be screaming loudly about this abuse of our rights freedoms and liberties. The TSA hasn’t stopped a single terrorist, but they have made millions of Americans miss their flights – THAT is terrorism.
Report Post »sillyfreshness
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 3:30amTo Homeland Security, the real threat to America isn’t radical Islamic fundamentalists, Islamic terrorists, or even illegal aliens. Their real threat are the elderly, ex-vets, 2nd Amendment supporters, American flag wavers (formerly known as patriots), constitutional supporters, and anyone who isn’t a PC zombie socialists or commie. Now if this woman would have been wearing a Che Guevara shirt, I’m sure they would have passed her on through without any search. Our government is harassing American citizens at this point, but soon will be doing much more. See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNj1cJpG20c
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 8:48amShe may have called the TSA workers “ Idiot ”. leading to strip search.
Report Post »techengineer11
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 8:51amOur very own Conservatives on the Blaze are licensing the harassment! As much as despise Glenn Beck, he has the power to stop this… Any big time Media rep could stop this but they all remain deafeningly silent on the issue. Apparently, they are too busy trying to garner support for another War in the Middle East to stop and alarm the American people of the domestic threat which we face at home.
Report Post »techengineer11
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:01amI know this is our fate. I try to pretend like it’s not going to happen but it will. We are ruled by the most wicked diabolical people on earth and they wouldn’t hesitate to wipe out 100 million in the blink of an eye. They have a history of it. It’s just so disturbing to simply stand by and watch, powerless to do anything.. Watching supposed Conservatives like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Mark Levine, Limbaugh, Oreilly and others mislead and deceive the sheep. Yes they promote some Conservative principles.. I like that too but there’s nothing more important than our freedom and liberties.. They all condone and support the Patriot Act and the most recent Military Authorization Act. It’s disgusting!
Report Post »Warrior4Zion
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:09amAmerica deserves its fate for not standing with Israel. God’s punishment.
Report Post »Talmid of Yeshua
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 2:49amYep, she looks like a mooslum terrorist. Can’t trust those old white ladies. She may have had a bomb strapped to her adult diaper. The TSA needs to be shut down. They are nothing but jack-booted Nazi brown shirts.
Report Post »PASSIONFORCHRIST
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 2:02amThe answer is “The State Sovereignty Amendment”, which gives each State back it’s authority to be SOVERN, THE CLEAR INTENTION OF OUR CONSTITUTION. OUR CONSTITUITION WARNED US OF THIS, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS JUST KING GEORGE AS A WHOLE. PLEASE PATRIOTS WAKE UP AND LOOK INTO THIS AND GET INVOLVED! THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO DO THIS WITHOUT VIOLENCE. VIOLENCE IS THE LAST RESORT, AND ONLY TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND FAMILY!
Report Post »MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA AGAIN!
000degrees
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 8:36amHeritage Foundation…..Freedom Works……..join
Report Post »texanpatriot
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 1:11amThese people are out of control terrorists. If our newly elected conservatives do not defund this crowd in their first three months in office We the (molested) People will make a change.
Enough is enough. I have quit flying – am doing my part.
Do all you can in 2012 to overturn the damage being caused by the 2008 election.
Report Post »Scaz
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 12:51amWhy are we even patting down 85 year old women much less strip searching them? Was it 19 80 yr old women that were piloting those planes 10 years ago? This country lost the “War on Terror” a long time ago. We lost the moment we started trading liberty and dignity for “security”.
Report Post »YoungBloodNews
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 12:44amWelcome to the new norm for us citizens. Prepare for this on your highways… ;)
Report Post »CanadaKen
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 3:29amThey’re here……..
TSA deploys on Tennessee highway
shttp://www.tgdaily.com/opinion-features/59187-tsa-deploys-on-tennessee-highways
Report Post »YoungBloodNews
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 11:51am@CANADA
Oh I am aware of VIPR, just trying to wake up the baaa baa sheep
Report Post »Gypsy123
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:44pmReasons I don’t fly
1. Don‘t won’t to be murdered by terrorist
2. Don‘t won’t to be molested by TSA
If you don‘t like the situation don’t go on the transportation.
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:51pmI don‘t fly because I tell people if you want to see me then don’t move farther away than a short road trip or “Good-bye.”
Report Post »Modawg734Blue
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 12:00amThat is the reason I have not flown recently. Another fine examply of illegal search. I prefer profiling to harassing innocent Americans. Common sense dictates that if you want to buy a Ford F150, you do not shop for Honda Civics. I would not be so bold as to suggest that the Government would practice common sense.
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 12:28amAGAIN…TSA does it because they CAN! Watsa matter w/Americans? WE SURROUND THEM! JUST SAY NO!!!!!! You stupid, stupid, stupid SHEEPLE!
Report Post »orionreplay6607
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 5:43amI’m upset because I really believe that Amtrak could totally own on reports like this. They should be promoting rail heavily. You don’t have to arrive 2 hours prior to a train trip! You don’t get strip searched. Just be there before your train departs is all they ask.
But oh-my-god, the cost to go rail is obscene. It’s still several hundred dollars cheaper to fly, especially for a family of four. Even when fuel prices were at their highest, air travel was still much cheaper.
I love rail. It needs to be able to capitalize on our frustrations and fears of flying. Get the people on rails with cheap tickets, make them believers, and then raise prices over time. It always works.
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:42pmWell people if you don‘t like it then don’t fly, and when enough people quit flying, then the airlines will bring the smack down on TSA.
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:44pmOtherwise shut-up and quit complaining, because they will do what you allow.
Report Post »kcares
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 9:42amAmerican Airlines declared bankruptsy
Report Post »Southernsoul
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:40pmGrandma gets harrassed for 11 minutes yet the woman with the screaming child in the seat behind me gets a pass?
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 12:04amWow, what a great idea for a buisness, rent out screaming children so you can get through the TSA lines without being groped.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:27pmThe TSA seems to have a “thing”… for Children, the Handicap, and Elderly!
Report Post »orionreplay6607
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 5:48amI believe it is because they have an inspection quota to fill per hour. Why would I tackle the nose-ringed, orange haired punk with a t-shirt that says “F— tha Police”? Why would I pull aside anyone not white? The implications of that action are staggering. That just makes my day miserable as I sip my first coffee of the work day.
Instead I grab the military, the elderly, and the children to make my inspection quota. It‘s easier and I don’t find anything I don’t want to find. I go back to sipping my coffee.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 9:05amThat’s because 1. when they complain no one will believe them (children don’t know enough, handicapped see things wrong and the elderly have dementia – in their opinion) and 2. they hire pedophiles and preditors. Remember the article about the pedophile who was on the search team? Like everyone has been saying…if enough of us don’t fly, they’ll get the hint. Until then, you get what you deserve.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:22pmTo the TSA imbeciles everyone looks like a terrorist except Muslim males between the ages of sixteen through thirty-five.
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:47pmWell, quit flying then. I haven’t flown in over a decade.
Report Post »Ella
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 12:02amEliasm, some peopel have to fly to foreign countries or far distances just to see their children and grandchildren. Why should we be forced to give up fying when the TSA should be run a whole lot differently. The Muslims won. Before they committed terrorism on our planes we didn’t have this TSA horror show.
Report Post »txn4justice
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:21pmVery sad that common sense has flown out the window with the current administration.
Report Post »CanadaKen
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 11:58pm.Also the former administration that created the TSA and the patriot act. Both violate the constitution. The current administration is just using the tools that were given to them by the Bush administration.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:12pm.
Somebody would have to take a AssWhooping, like LSU put on UGA for doing that to my Mother…….
I’m talking remember it with a limp AssWhooping. Tell you the truth that S.O.B. would be better getting captured by the Taliban………
Report Post »Servant Of YHVH
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:08pmThey need to get the name of every single TSA agent and charge every single one of them and convict them and then put a notation next to their names for the rest of their lives for being sex perverts.
Report Post »geonj
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:58pmnothing the tsa does surprises me. let’s get rid of the tsa and repeal the patriot act. if the terrorists want us, let them try and get us. our freedom is more dear than any false safety we get from this nonsense.
Report Post »rockstone
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:40pmHer name is Zimmerman? That may not mean anything. But…. then again…it’s happened before.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:51pmThey don‘t like the Zimmerman’s? He was a great left tackle for the Broncos.
Report Post »tbear44
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:33pmLast time I flew not only did I have to do the body scanner, they did pat downs on everyone after they were scanned. TSA needs to adopt the Isreali methods.
Report Post »nannyatnannydotgov
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:29pmShe arrived at the ticket counter 40 minutes before her son dropped her off at the airport. Next, you’ll want me to believe that obambum is not a dh.
Report Post »garygromele
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:29pmIt’s called TYRANNY! We live in a Police State, Alex Jones was right all along…
Report Post »americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:28pmIf she is telling the truth and the TSA is covering it up, they should all be fired. Where is Donald Trump when you need him?
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:28pmThe TSA is hiring people with ZERO common sense. The lady behind her with the burka probably got a pass
Report Post »confederacyofdunces
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 1:16amI GUARANTEE THAT! Iv’e gone through secondary many times to watch groups of a dozen burka clad bodies go through without any hesitation.
Report Post »If common sense was common everyone would have it.
Anyone reading these stories can see that 30% of the country live in another universe.
Dalady
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:26pmEleven minutes for a private screening? Really? Something…everything stinks about this story.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:32pmEspecially the TSA Agents fingers.
Report Post »Shasta
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:17pmAn 11 minute pat down? Give me a break. The TSA needs to be eliminated.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:27pmIn most states an 11 minute pat down is considered Foreplay, and would require them to buy her dinner and call her for a second date.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on December 4, 2011 at 9:31amtsa shouldn’t have been created in the first place,it violates the constitution on a daily basis.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:17pmThe TSA agents had a bet, they were wondering if she was wearing Granny Panties or Thongs.
Report Post »Dalady
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:27pmlol
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