Wheelchair Bound Toddler Searched for Explosives by TSA, Causes Outrage (VIDEO)
A 3-year-old boy who is wheelchair bound has been left shaken after being subject to an invasive TSA pat-down that was designed to search him for explosives.
In a YouTube video recorded by the toddler's father, the terrified child can be seen trembling as the TSA officer asks him to sit upwards for a pat down.
Aware of his son's fear, the boy's father, though mortified, remained calm during the procedure simply pretending that everything was fine to put the boy's mind at ease.
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"Rocco he's got to check you, he's gonna check you out ok....no big deal," the boy's father is heard saying in the viral video.
The boy, who is on his way to Disney World in Orlando, Florida with his family, becomes visibly upset as the TSA officer begins touching him and taking swabs in search of explosives.
"My little boy wanted me to come over to hold his hand and give him a hug. He was trembling with fear. I was told I could NOT touch him or come near him during this process. Instead we had to pretend this was "ok" so he didn't panic," the boy's father wrote in the 3.14 minute long video.
At one point the scared boy can be seen reaching out for his father's hand, who is instructed not to touch his son during the process and the entire incident has again sparked public outrage at the TSA's anti-terrorism procedures.
The child, who is on the verge of tears, listens to his father and remains extremely cooperative throughout the terrifying ordeal but concerned social networking users immediately took to YouTube to weigh in on the matter.
"I'm not sure that's the point. He is separated from his family to a degree where he looks scared. He is SWABBED for EXPLOSIVES just incase he was busy last night in his bomb factory!" TimWRacing wrote.
"They have to search everyone accordingly. No matter how old or how young. Maybe a terrorist would sacrifice their child for a bombing. You don't know how many sick people are out there," xMikrogram wrote.
"We got him! Terrorism is over!" arouska wrote.
The incident has raised questions about what parents should do when their child is placed in uncomfortable pat down situation.
Just last year 41-year-old Andrea Fornella Abbott of Clarksville, Tennessee was arrested for reportedly trying to protect her daughter at Nashville airport.
Abbott allegedly began screaming uncontrollably at TSA officers saying that she did not want her daughter to "be touched inappropriately or have her crotch grabbed," according to The Tennessean.
