A Texas woman on her way to Christmas festivites on the west coast will be staying in the Lone Star state this season, all due to a disagreement with the security officers at Austin-Bergstrom International airport. After opting out of security screening at the checkpoint this past week, Claire Hirschkind was pulled aside and prepared for a thorough pat down. She agreed to the procedure but only if the agents didn’t pat down her breasts — and that’s when things got out of hand.
Apparently one thing led to another and Ms. Hirschkind ended up on the floor in handcuffs then subsequently arrested.
While this KVUE story has a few more details on the affair it’s still not clear what led to Ms. Hirschkind’s arrest. A simple pat-down refusal shouldn’t land someone in handcuffs, so it’s possible that a misunderstanding or some heated words led to this disastrous result. Either way, this story provides more reason to tread lightly when going through the checkpoint this season.