Holder to speak at TSA agent’s memorial

Attorney General Eric Holder is scheduled on Tuesday to speak at a memorial service for a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent who was killed in a shooting at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Holder will be joined by TSA Administrator John Pistole, Acting of Homeland Security Rand Beers and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti , according to officials with the agency.

The TSA is honoring 39-year-old Gerardo Hernandez, who was killed two weeks ago by a rifle-wielding gunman who opened fire at the TSA’s checkpoint at the Los Angeles airport.

TSA officials have said Hernandez is the agency’s first employee to be killed in the line of duty.

The LAX shooter, who was identified as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia of New Jersey,  was believed to be targeting TSA employees. Ciancia killed Hernandez and injured two of the agency’s other workers before he was captured by police.

The Los Angeles shooting prompted calls from some TSA supporters to allow some of the agency’s workers to carry guns.