The Huffingtonpost
January 23, 2012
WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) staff said Monday morning that the senator was being detained by federal Transportation Security Administration agents in Nashville, Tenn.
Moira Bagley, Paul’s communications director, tweeted around 10:00 a.m. ET, “Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”
On Facebook, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Rand Paul’s father, wrote, “My son Rand is currently being detained by the TSA at the Nashville Airport. I’ll share more details as the situation unfolds.”
Bagley told CNN that Paul went through a scanner and set off an alarm. He reportedly wanted to go through the scanner again instead of getting a full-body pat-down, but TSA officers refused.
The TSA said that Paul “was not detained at any point.”
“The passenger triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to complete the screening process in order to resolve the issue,” TSA said in a statement. “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.”
