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."
