Rand Paul Detained by TSA

Rand Paul seems to be having an interesting day as the Kentucky senator was detained by the Transportation Security Administration in Nashville, Tennessee after refusing to undergo full body pat-down.

“I spoke with him five minutes ago and he was being detained indefinitely,” said Paul spokesperson Moira Bagley said. “The image scan went off; he refused patdown.”

Paul’s father, GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul (R-Texas), tweeted about the incident and posted to Facebook as well, saying that there had been an “anomaly” with a body scanner.

Ron Paul tweeted:

“My son @SenRandPaul being detained by TSA for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner in Nashville. More details coming.”

The TSA is disputing this account of the events, however.

Rand Paul seemingly set off an alarm during a routine airport screening and declined to finish the process, said a TSA official, but added that he was “not detained at any point.”

“Passengers, as in this case, who refuse to comply with security procedures are denied access to the secure gate area. He was escorted out of the screening area by local law enforcement,” the official said.

Shortly before noon, the TSA stated that Paul had been re-booked on a different flight and went through the screening process without incident.

Bagley thought the senator had been detained as well, tweeting:

“Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville”

Rand Paul has been a strong critic of the TSA pat-down process at airports, calling them government overreach. The senator grilled TSA Administrator John Pistole in 2011 after a 6-year-old girl from Paul’s hometown was patted down by airport security.

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• Senator Rand Paul Refuses To Be Groped By TSA Agents, Detained In Nashville (flightwisdom.com)