The Transportation Security Administration is apparently not content with fondling America???s private parts or administering airport prostate exams. They have now uncovered a more nefarious kind of terror threat ??? three-year-old girls confined to wheelchairs.
Nathan Forck and his wife Annie, along with their three children were heading to Disney World for a family vacation. Lucy, their three-year-old, has Spina bifida and is confined to a wheelchair.
The family managed to make it through the TSA checkpoint at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport without any problems. But as they prepared to walk to their gate, a TSA agent pulled aside Lucy for additional screening measures.
???They specifically told me that they were singling her out for this special treatment because she???s in a wheelchair,??? he told me. ???They are specifically singling out disabled people for this special scrutiny. It???s rather offensive to me as a father of a disabled child.???
The agent said they needed to pat down Lucy and swab her wheelchair ??? even though both had already gone through the checkpoint.
???They treated her like a criminal,??? said Forck. ???And by extension they were treating us as criminals.???
Additional security personnel were summoned after the Forck???s refused to stop filming the incident.
???You can???t do touch my daughter unless I record it,??? Mrs. Forck told the agent.
The agent replied by telling the parents ???It is illegal to do that.???
???The problem is, I don???t allow anyone to touch my little daughter,??? Mrs. Forck said.
Agents also confiscated Lucy???s stuffed animal, ???Lamby,??? ??? as the child wept uncontrollably.
???I don???t want to go to Disney World,??? she pleaded with her parents.
For 30 gut-wrenching minutes, government agents detained and harassed this American family before finally sending them on their way with nary a hint of an explanation.
So I decided to call the TSA to get to the bottom of this embarrassing mess and they told me it was a great big mistake.
???TSA regrets inaccurate guidance was provided to this family during screening and offers its apology,??? a TSA spokesman told me in an email.
Inaccurate guidance?
Government agents took away a little girl???s stuffed animal ??? and made her cry.
The TSA also admitted their agents made another mistake. Passengers are allowed to film TSA procedures. And they also said Lucy should never have been subjected to a pat-down.
The cold hard reality is that American airports have been turned into third-world outposts governed by TSA dictatorships. Americans are stripped of not only their dignity, but also their Constitutional rights.
If TSA agents tried to touch a child or anyone else in the manner outside the airport, they would be facing felony charges.
I???m not sure why the TSA has an obsession with America???s nether regions ??? but it seems to me the government crosses the line when their agents begin detaining and searching three-year-old girls over fears they might be terrorists.
It???s time for Americans to rise up and demand Congress put an end to the jack-booted policies of the TSA. It???s time for us to stand as a united voice and demand government agents stop violating our Constitutional rights.
Unless brave patriots take a stand, there will be another child ??? just like Lucy ??? who loses her childlike innocence at a TSA checkpoint.
Todd Starnes is the host of Fox News & Commentary, heard daily on more than 250 radio stations. He???s also the author of ???Dispatches From Bitter America.??? Follow Todd on Twitter: @toddstarnes. His website is www.toddstarnes.com
