Rand Paul TSA video: Was he really "irate"?

Nashville International Airport on Thursday released video footage of Rand Paul's Monday run-in with the TSA, raising new questions about an incident report's characterization that the Kentucky senator was "irate" after he was asked to undergo a pat down.

The video, first released by the Tennessean, which does not really address the question of whether Paul was irate or not, depicts Paul alternately sitting and standing in a glass cubicle, and later being escorted out by an airport official. There is no audio, and Paul's face is almost entirely obscured. In some sections, Paul appears to be talking on his cell phone.

Paul was directed to the cubicle after refusing a full-body pat down while going through security at the airport. In an incident report surrounding the event, a law enforcement official said he had been dispatched to deal with an "irate" passenger, who turned out to be Paul.

There is no footage depicting Paul's reaction to the request for a pat down, nor of him being led to the glass cubicle.

When questioned about the accuracy of the characterization of Paul as "irate," both the TSA and the Nashville International Airport referred back to the incident report.

"It is our protocol to refer to law enforcement when a passenger refuses to complete the screening process," said Jon Allen, a spokesperson for the TSA.

Paul's father Ron Paul, a Republican presidential candidate and, like his son, a staunch libertarian, decried the incident in a statement on Monday.

"The police state in this country is growing out of control," the elder said. "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."

[inspoken]

looks like he's being detained

[OhReallyBro]

Cops lie - that's what they do

[fisher1949]

This is yet another example of TSA blatantly lying even in the presence of video evidence to the contrary. If these degenerates will lie about their treatment of a US Senator who among us is safe from them?

This is the abuse you get when you have a corrupt unaccountable agency whose workers think they are above the law

This agency has repeatedly lied about a myriad of issues including promising Congress four times that they would conduct independent testing of the scanners, as recently as in October, only to renege on those promises and deem the scanners "safe". They lied about strip searching three women at JFK and only admitted it after local legislators threatened to post police at the checkpoints to oversee them.

TSA is a colossal failure and their lack of accountability and responsible management permits these abuses to persist. TSA is far too broken to be reformed and must be replaced with something that actually works.

TSA Crimes & Abuses
******/TravelUndergroundTSAabuses

[fisher1949]

This is yet another example of TSA blatantly lying even in the presence of video evidence to the contrary. If these degenerates will lie about their treatment of a US Senator who among us is safe from them?

This is the abuse you get when you have a corrupt unaccountable agency whose workers think they are above the law

This agency has repeatedly lied about a myriad of issues including promising Congress four times that they would conduct independent testing of the scanners, as recently as in October, only to renege on those promises and deem the scanners "safe". They lied about strip searching three women at JFK and only admitted it after local legislators threatened to post police at the checkpoints to oversee them.

TSA is a colossal failure and their lack of accountability and responsible management permits these abuses to persist. TSA is far too broken to be reformed and must be replaced with something that actually works.

TSA Crimes & Abuses
******/TravelUndergroundTSAabuses

[Elizabeth-Conley]

"When questioned about the accuracy of the characterization of Paul as "irate," both the TSA and the Nashville International Airport referred back to the incident report."

Past victims of the TSA have reported that the TSA wildly overstated the citizens' hostility toward the screeners in their reports to LEO's. These wild exaggerations have led LEOs to engage these citizens in a hostile manner, when a more honest report on the part of the TSA workers would have suggested a milder approach from the police.

TSA workers are trampling citizens' constitutional rights and offending every value we hold dear. "It's their job" just isn't a good enough excuse. They're going to have to become more philisophical about responses such as "You're kidding, right?" and "Absolutely not!" It's rather odd TSA workers don't hear these sensible reactions more often.

[bobnjersey]

["It is our protocol to refer to law enforcement when a passenger refuses to complete the screening process," said Jon Allen, a spokesperson for the TSA.]
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anything less than total compliance without question is what authoritarians want and expect.

you're branded w/ whatever appropriate terminology disparages and classifies you as a non-conformist ... so they can control and influence.

rand paul is obviously an non-cooperative 'irate' rebel for standing up for his right to 'freedom'.

he should be 'marked' appropriately so other officials can 'deal' with in appropriate ways in the future.

[Susan_Spector]

I heard Rand Paul was going to be picked running mate with Gary Johnson for the Libertarian Party 2012 presidential ticket. Is this happening or did I just learn a secret? I think it would make a great team.