Woman claims she was sexually assaulted in filmed reaction to TSA pat-down

TSA said last week on its blog that while it “takes all allegations of improper screening seriously and investigates each claim to the fullest,” the woman was not sexually assaulted.

“After reviewing this passenger’s time at the checkpoint, we found that our security officers acted properly and neither the CCTV footage nor this YouTube video support any of the allegations levied,” the TSA blog said. “Real violations of our protocols are worth every ounce of our energy to investigate, but this alleged incident does not meet that threshold.”

TSA said in its original blog post it was reviewing whether passengers were allowed to film at security checkpoints.

The agency revisited the topic this week, updating the post Thursday evening to say “we recognize that using video and photography equipment is a constitutionally protected activity unless it interferes with the screening process at our checkpoints.”

“While our current policy remains the same, TSA is reviewing our guidance to officers at the checkpoint to ensure consistent application,” the blog update said. “Our goal is to protect passenger’s [sic] rights, while safeguarding the integrity of the security process.”