Just when you thought reports of government-sanctioned sexual harassment were dying down, two elderly women come forward making accusations against Transportation Security Administration agents in John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The first is Lenore Zimmerman, 85, who says the TSA got a little crazy over a granny in a back brace.
“After they patted me down, they took me into a private room and they strip searched me. I said ‘Why are you strip searching me? Do I like look a terrorist’?” Zimmerman told CBS2's Dave Carlin. “She said ‘pull your pants down.’ Then she pulled my underwear down. I said ‘Why is this happening’ and she didn’t respond.”
The TSA released a statement apologizing for Zimmerman's stressful encounter with their agents, but insists the woman was allowed to keep her clothes on. However, when she heard of the incident between Zimmerman and the TSA, a second woman named Ruth Sherman, 88, came forward as well.
Sherman says she was put through a similar ordeal. When Sherman went through airport security, she says she was asked to go to a private area, where agents strip-searched her. The offending item to spark their interest? Her colostomy bag.
“This is private for me. It's bad enough that I have it,” Sherman told Carlin. “I had to pull from my sweatpants and I had to pull my underwear, my underwear down. You don't do that anybody. I felt like I was invaded.”
But security's better than privacy! Isn't it? We're going with a hearty, “No.”