85-Year-Old Woman Accuses TSA Worker of Strip Searching
An 85- year-old woman is claiming that she was strip searched by a TSA employee at JFK airport Tuesday.
When the senior, Lenore Zimmerman, was dropped off at the airport by her son, she was escorted to the ticket counter and then to security in a wheelchair. She requested to be patted down instead of going through the screening in fear it would interfere with her defibrillator. According to The Daily News, Zimmerman said: "I worry about my heart, so I don't want to go through those things."
According to Zimmerman, a female TSA worker took her into a private room where she was made to remove her pants and other articles of clothing. She also claims that during the “strip search,” she banged her shin and it bled "like a pig," as a result of blood-thinning medication. She said an emergency medical technician came to her aid, where she was advised to see a doctor upon arrival in Florida to make sure she didn't get infected.
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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. There are no records indicating medical attention was called on her behalf.
She missed her flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and had to take one 2 1/2 hours later, she said. From her seniors home in Coconut Creek, Florida she said "I'm hunched over. I'm in a wheelchair. I weigh under 110 pounds (50 kilograms). Do I look like a terrorist?”
The Daily News also reports that her son, Bruce Zimmerman wants to see someone fired over the incident. "My mother is a little old woman. She's not disruptive or uncooperative," he said Saturday. "I don't understand how this happened."
The Transportation Security Administration released a statement on Saturday stating that no strip search occurred. Lenore Zimmerman is threatening to sue the administration.
"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.
