84-year-old claims TSA strip-search
Last Updated 4:50 p.m. ET
NEW YORK - An 84-year-old Long Island grandmother says she was injured and humiliated during a strip search at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
However, TSA said no strip search of Zimmerman was conducted.
Lenore Zimmerman of Long Beach, L.I., said she was on her way to a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when she was whisked into a private room by security who removed her clothes.
Zimmerman, who is 4'11", told the New York Daily News she is hunched over, walks with a walker, weighs 110 pounds and is going to be 85 years old in July. "Do I look like a terrorist?" she asked.
Zimmerman says she was searched after she asked to forgo advanced image technology screening equipment because she worried it would interfere with her defibrillator.
The retired receptionist said she normally gets patted down at airline security. But this time, Zimmerman said, two female agents escorted her to a private area.
At one point, Zimmerman said, a metal bar of her walker banged against her leg and blood trickled from a gash. "My sock was soaked with blood. I was bleeding like a pig."
But, she said, the TSA agents showed no sympathy. Zimmerman said she got no response when she asked them, "Why are you doing this?"
TSA public affairs spokesperson Kristin Lee told CBS News that a review of closed circuit TV indicates that a "private screening was requested by the passenger, and was granted."
According to TSA sources, there was nothing unusual detected when Zimmerman and the security agents left the private screening area.
Lee told CBS News that "TSA screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy and that occurred in this instance.
"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."
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Give me a break, where was a family member to accompany her???. She refused to be searhed in public and requested a private seach.I bet she loved every minute of it and now wants to sue..........PLEASEEEEEEEEE. LOOK LADY NEXT TIME BRING YOUR SON, YOU KNOW THE ONE WHO WANTS TO SUE, MAYBE SOMEONE SHOULD SUE HIM FOR LEAVING YOU ALONE AT THE AIRPORT AN NOT CARING, NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN HE'S CONCERNED, ENOUGH TO SUE......GET A LIFE WILL YOU
She refused the scan and had to be patted down. It took 11 minutes.
End of story. Next time, a family member should accompany her from check-in to departure gate. Just like a child travelling alone.
The only "humiliation" suffered, is her seeking publicity, and getting it.
After past and ongoing experiecnes have proven, using TSA documents and later admissions, that they are not truthful?
In my opinion, if you can't use people who know how to do their job, you shouldn't be in the business!