TSA agent mishears traveler's joke, leading to security scramble

Martin Scorsese's longtime producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff was recently pulled aside at an airport security checkpoint for additional screening after she was unable to remove a Cartier bracelet, which set off the checkpoint's scanner. As she waited for the TSA supervisor to arrive to perform the pat-down, she joked with a nearby agent that the scanner had probably been set off by her IUD, or intrauterine device, an implantable form of birth control. The TSA agent misheard Koskoff and thought she was referring to an IED, or improvised explosive device, a homemade bomb used by Islamic terrorists.

This misunderstanding set off a security scramble and led to a vigorous pat-down of Koskoff. Eventually, the issue was cleared up and Koskoff was permitted to enter the terminal and board her flight.

Koskoff took the mix-up in stride, saying, "I'm all for making sure that no one has bombs on themselves and people being patted down for security purposes."

Mike Opelka reacts to the latest TSA tempest in a teapot: "It's crazy. This is why I rail against giant government. I know, I know, it's all for our security. But this is also why I'm a member of both CLEAR and the (TSA) PreCheck. Just a simple way to make sure — the government's looked into me. They known I'm not going to be a problem. ... But this TSA is only going to get bigger unless we do something about it."

To see more from Mike, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “Pure Opelka” weekdays 7–10pm ET & Saturdays 6–9am ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.