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Title: 18 Government Agents Used Terrorism as an Excuse to Terrorize This 9-Year-Old With Pacemaker
Source:
The Anti-Media
URL Source: http://theantimedia.org/agents-terrorize-boy-pacemaker/
Published: Aug 24, 2016
Author: Carey Wedler
Post Date: 2016-08-25 15:18:00 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 897
Comments: 8
A nine-year-old boy with hopes of becoming a pilot was traumatized by TSA agents at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport when he was told that, because of his pacemaker for his heart condition, he was ineligible for screening. Chille Bergstrom had been screened countless times before. His mother, Ali Bergstrom, told Anti-Media they have flown millions of miles without incident and often go to the airport early so Chille can watch the planes take off and land. But on Saturday morning, he was told by TSA agent and manager, Agent Potts-O’brien, that Chille would require a special exemption to make it through security. Normally, he is able to have his hands swiped with the TSA’s swab kits. But this time, his mother was told she would have to have all of her bags individually checked if she wanted her son to make it through security. Bergstrom says Potts-O’Brien told her all of the other screenings Chille had endured without issue were performed incorrectly by all other TSA agents. Baffled by the change in policy, Bergstrom says she asked Potts-O’Brien to check with a supervisor, whom she assumed would clear up the situation. After waiting about fifteen minutes for Mr. Maynard Williams, a security manager, to arrive in the terminal, Bergstrom and her son were told, once again, that TSA policy did not allow Chille to receive a hand swipe security check. According to the TSA, however, individuals with pacemakers, who cannot pass through metal detectors for risk of malfunction, are eligible for alternative screenings. One of those is a traditional pat down — the alternative some people choose to body scanners — which Bergstrom says she requested for her son. The agents refused, and they also denied him the option of passing through a body scanner. Bergstrom said in a Facebook post that, as they waited, “Strangers were literally crying along with Chille, giving me their names and numbers as witnesses ‘to this horrific situation!’” Gwenette Bradley was another airline passenger who required special TSA attention that day. Because of a recent back surgery, Bradley was pulled off the the side area where the Bergstroms were waiting for approval. She said Ali and Chille had already been seated and waiting when she first saw them. During that time, she says she watched numerous agents crowd around her and her son, who sat on her lap. At this point, she says, Bergstrom was “hysterical” and frustrated that TSA agents would not allow her son through. Bergstrom says she became particularly upset when she was told her son would not be allowed to fly. Bradley also clarified that, given the “unprofessional” circumstance, Bergstrom was well within her rights to be upset. “It was very traumatic for her, and I really felt bad for her,” she said. Bradley observed that Bergstrom had provided paperwork to the TSA agents, but even as she presented the necessary documents, the authorities showed her no sympathy. Rather, she says, they encircled her, refused to speak directly to her, and whispered to each other. “They all just talked among themselves like she wasn’t there. And I thought what in the world would possess them to do that? It just wasn’t necessary at all.” It was a such a scene, Bradley recounted, that the agents who had been assisting her rushed over to the gaggle of agents gathered around the Bergstroms. “I kept thinking, where is the head of this bunch that will walk over here and say ‘Enough, get these people where we need to go, and let’s move on,’” Bradley said. “But nobody did that for her.” She also said it felt like the agents were trying to minimize the visibility of the ordeal. “Then they start rushing me off, and I thought, ‘Yeah, you guys don’t want anybody to watch this,’” she said. “They really overstepped their boundaries,” she said. Bergstrom says that, by the end of the ordeal, she was surrounded by 18 government agents, including ten TSA agents, four Phoenix police officers and someone she was told was “the head of the Department of Homeland Security for the entire airport.” “They all approach us and surround us and stared at us, and it was terrifying. . . . My son has had nightmares now for two nights.” None of them acknowledged her plight or admitted that, perhaps, Potts-O’Brien and Williams had been incorrect at first. Rather, she was told he was ineligible for screening and that the TSA had previously stopped a child with a pacemaker who would have attempted to blow up a plane. When Bergstrom asked for more specifics, the agent (predictably) told her he was not at liberty to divulge. Ultimately, the 18 agents’ decision to single out the Bergstroms can also be attributed to the threat of “terrorism” considering the TSA and its regulations — which these officers enforced incorrectly — were created as a direct response to 9/11. Even Chille, a young child, knew to stand up for himself. He reminded the agents that he had never had an issue and never required an “exemption” to travel. Bergstrom told us she worried what other threats were passing through security while over a dozen government agents were crowding around her and Chille. She said Chille reminded one TSA agent, Officer Fellner, that 95% of weapons make it through TSA screening without ever being spotted. “‘That’s a lie,’” she says Fellner told Chille. In reality, Fellner was the one lying. A report last year from the Office of the Inspector General found TSA agents failed to detect weapons in security screenings 95% of the time, a finding that prompted then-TSA Acting Administrator Melvin Carraway to be reassigned to a different department within Homeland Security. Eventually, Bergstrom was told that all of her items had to be screened because her bags had triggered the security alarm during screening, an assertion Bergstrom disputes. “[It was a] complete lie. My son’s jaw dropped,” she said. “Nothing triggered the alarm. That’s why they’ve been sitting here untouched. No TSA agent here has even look at it or touched it because they know that none of the alarms were triggered. Everything was fine. We were all passed through. The issue is that he has a pacemaker and he needs an alternate screening.” She even told the agent to his face it was untrue. She invited them to rescan the bags to prove the security alarm went off and was told she would not be allowed to fly, which is when she became extremely upset. One TSA agent stood up for Bergstrom and reminded the agents she had already given permission to search her bags. They proceeded to take “every single item” out of her bags and perform swabs on them. Then, after insisting Chille could not be screened throughout the ordeal, the agents told her he had to be screened — and hand swiped. “I have been asking for this the whole time,” Chille told them. Bergstrom summarized the absurdity of the ordeal in her Facebook post: “They surrounded him! It was terrible! In the end, they . . . said that this wouldn’t have happened if Chille would have just submitted to alternate screening of his hands being wiped, which Chille had been BEGGING them to do for over an hour. . . . Chille said, ‘They should be fired for treating heart kids like this. They were so mean and lied and wouldn’t swipe my hands for over an hour!’” The ordeal lasted for over an hour, and by the time it was finished, they were too late to make their flight. Bergstrom says a representative from American Airlines apologized and stressed they objected to the way the TSA treated her. They arranged for her and Chille to catch a flight 14 hours later. As they waited in the airport, Bergstrom noticed Chille’s mood had deteriorated. “I shouldn’t even fly anymore. I shouldn’t go anywhere,” he lamented as they waited for a new flight. Bergstrom says her son usually loves to watch planes take off and land, but this time he had no interest. Chille, who has tetralogy of fallot syndrome, has had 15 surgeries in his short life and still has more to endure. But his condition has not stopped him from experiencing life to the fullest. He attends space camp and also attends a special camp for children with heart disorders, where he has learned to advocate for himself. This is likely part of the reason why he was able to stay calm but assertive when speaking with officers. Now he is determined to make sure no child ever has to deal with abuses from authority again. His mother says a representative from American Airlines urged her to file a complaint about the incident. She told Anti-Media that Fox News Minneapolis reported the TSA claimed to have attempted to reach out to her, but she says she hasn’t heard from anyone. The TSA did not respond to Anti-Media’s request for comment. While it is important to remember that the Bergstroms have flown countless times without being harassed by the TSA, it is also vital to keep in mind that the conduct of the TSA in Phoenix on Saturday was not isolated to one agent. From Potts-O’Brien all the way to Maynard Williams, the head of Homeland Security at the airport and the Phoenix police, the violations of Chille and Ali’s rights were consistent across the board. The agents at Phoenix airport have garnered so many complaints that officials have considered replacing them with private security. Bergstrom said if the agents had apologized and admitted they were confused or wrong about procedure, the experience would not have been so negative. “But none of that happened,” she said. “They were just flat-out rude. They were flat-out mean. They were intimidating. They were scary. They were just these bullies, and they wanted us to submit. We can’t submit any more than sitting on a chair with my nine year old in my lap as we’re sobbing surrounded by 18 people in authority. There’s no more submission than that.”
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
Beware of people with twisted small minds who are given big authority.
Beware of people with twisted small minds who are given big authority. Or just maybe….beware of accepting a story at face value from perhaps a hysterical person without fact checking. We conducted a thorough review to see what happened. Here’s what we learned: Last Saturday, a mother and her nine-year old son presented themselves for screening at a Phoenix TSA checkpoint. The mother made our officers aware that her son had a pacemaker. Our officers screen thousands of people with pacemakers daily. We use alternate screening procedures that allow the passenger to bypass the metal detector. When somebody is permitted to bypass a metal detector, it isn’t just a free pass. They still must undergo alternate screening so we can ensure they’re not in possession of any prohibited items. As with all passengers with pacemakers, her son was permitted to bypass the metal detector and enter the checkpoint. Our manager explained to the family the screening that needed to occur and subsequently the boy’s mother consented to the appropriate screening. After screening, the mother and her son were escorted to their gate by American Airlines personnel, where they boarded and completed their scheduled flight. Our screening procedures are in place to keep the flying public safe, while accommodating the diverse needs of millions of passengers a day. If you or a loved one has a disability or medical condition, please feel free to contact our TSA Cares Helpline prior to traveling. TSA Cares is a helpline that provides travelers with disabilities, medical conditions and other special circumstances additional assistance during the security screening process. Please call 72 hours prior to traveling with questions about screening policies, procedures and what to expect at the security checkpoint. Travelers requiring special accommodations or who are concerned about the security screening process at the airport may also ask a TSA officer or supervisor for a passenger support specialist who can provide on-the-spot assistance. As Bob Burns stated, TSA checks “thousands of people with pacemakers daily” and no doubt children are among those. So, was the TSA procedure different in this situation….or did a mother overreact? Who knows …
Ali Bergstrom was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of her son's trauma and the months she spent nonstop in the intensive care unit. She takes medication to help her sleep and says an intensive therapy regimen has taught her to live in the moment. "People would be going on with their lives all around me and none of it made any sense to me," she remembers. "It was like they were speaking a different language or living in a different world. I was completely numb." She couldn't sleep, shaken awake by nightmares that they were back in the intensive care unit. She couldn't watch her son sleep at night because to her, he looked dead. That's not surprising, says Dr. Cassandra Kisiel, a psychologist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and a trauma consultant with the state's Department of Children and Family Services. "Parents understand that their primary job is to keep their kids safe," she says. "Even just a fever or a stomach ache can send anxiety levels spiking, so imagine what a serious injury or a life-threatening illness can do to a parent emotionally." Bergstrom was described as being “hysterical” in the special TSA attention area that day. Perhaps she became “hysterical” because she wanted to only have her son’s swiped with the TSA’s swab kit and be on her way when she was told that was not the procedure for a pacemaker and she had to go to the special TSA attention area for the security check on her son. An article on lewrockwell.com stated the alternative security test took only a little more than an hour and she and her son were on their way. Based on the report that she was “hysterical”….the majority of that time was probably spent on trying to calm her down and proceed with the check. The TSA at the Phoenix airport does thousands of security checks on people with pacemakers, some of which are children, all without any reported incidents. Yet, it was decided on that particular Saturday morning TSA needed to “surround her with 18 government agents” to make a simple security check. She started a blog and is currently writing a book about her experiences….that’s interesting.
Attaboy! Yeah, there's an unbiased source for you. Good grief man, your unfettered worship of the State is getting rather pathetic. From your link : The mother certainly does not tell the same story as TSA. So who should the public believe, a group who has been dishonest multiple times over the years or a person with no known history of lying? The TSA at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix handles thousands of passengers with pacemakers including many children. Do an internet search for a problem any adult or child passenger ever had with the TSA at Sky Harbor Airport processing them with a pacemaker throughout the MANY years. You will find only one alleged problem, this one last Saturday. The mother wanted the TSA to use the “Swabbing” process on her son, a process where the TSA swabs a passenger’s hands at checkpoints and airport gates to test them for traces of explosives. She said that had been done on her son at other airports. The TSA official told her that was not the approved procedure for someone with a pacemaker. She next wanted a “pat down” done on her son then and there at the check point. That was not the established protocol for the agents at the gate, She and her son were moved to an alternative security check area where individuals with pacemakers go through a traditional pat down or some other alternative security method such as a body scanner. This obviously upset her since she did not get her way and because the TSA agents moved them to an alternative screening area. She became “hysterical” (a description used by another passenger) and created a ruckus. Again, on any one day and as large as the airport is in Phoenix, it is safe to say that a thousand or more adults and children with pacemakers go through the alternative security check at Sky Harbor….and this happens every day. Yet on this particular day and with this particular kid, the TSA decided to surround the kid and his mother with “18 TSA agents and armed police officers.” Give me a break!!! The lady suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, “the result of her son's trauma and the months she spent nonstop in the intensive care unit.” She has said: “It can feel like your whole world is crashing down.” She takes medication to help her sleep and says therapy has helped. She is writing a book about the troubles she is having. Add all of that up and what do you have? You have a story from her that does not make sense. What does she have? A situation where she is able to complete a chapter in the book she said she is writing on the trials and tribulations while dealing with her son’s health problem.
So who should the public believe, a group who has been dishonest multiple times over the years or a person with no known history of lying?
Secondly, because of the bad press the TSA has received, and much of it is true, some people have programmed themselves to completely believe anything bad they read about TSA. So, if the public reads only the article, as is usually the case, then the public will believe the story as written. The real question to ask is:
I have read additional articles and also looked at the TSA procedures. I am leaning to the possibility that TSA probably mishandled this. I can find no “exemption” for a child with a pacemaker the TSA agent said she needed. There are other exemptions, but that is not one of them. I have also found that TSA should have immediately honored her request for alternate screening. From the TSA Blog and Website: If you cannot or choose not to be screened by advanced imaging technology or a walk-through metal detector, you will undergo a pat-down procedure instead. You may also undergo a pat-down procedure if you alarm the screening equipment and/or at random. The pat-down will be conducted by a TSA officer of the same gender and you may ask that the TSA officer change their gloves before performing a pat- down. The TSA officer will ask whether you have an injury or tender area to treat such areas accordingly during a pat-down. You may request to have a pat-down in private and be accompanied by a companion of your choice. You may bring your carry-on baggage to the private screening area and may request a chair to sit if needed. You will not be asked to remove or lift any article of clothing to reveal sensitive body areas. Please note a second TSA officer will always be present during a private pat-down screening. She said that she “asked for an alternative screening and presented paperwork detailing her son’s medical condition.” She said that when she did, the “TSA agents said they needed a special exemption.” There could have been a miscommunication here. If the TSA agent used the words “special exemption”….the agent may have meant a "TSA NOTIFICATION CARD: Individuals With Disabilities and Medical Conditions." She said she had all the paperwork, I wonder if she had that card. In any case, it should not have mattered because as stated on the TSA Website, her simple request for alternative screening should have been immediately honored. TSA IDENTIFICATION CARD: https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/disability_notification_card_508.pdf I am now of the opinion that the TSA screwed up royalty because they should have defused the situation immediately and courteously. She should have never had any reason whatsoever to become upset.
: 18 Government Agents Used Terrorism as an Excuse to Terrorize This 9-Year-Old With Pacemaker
#2. To: rlk (#1)
There have been some reports that a nine-year-old child with a pacemaker was prevented from flying home because TSA thought his pacemaker was a bomb. Long story short, nobody thought his pacemaker was a bomb, and the boy and his mother made their scheduled flight home on time.
#3. To: Deckard (#0)
#4. To: Gatlin (#2)
(Edited)
Bob Burns - TSA Social Media
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#5. To: Deckard (#4)
(Edited)
The mother certainly does not tell the same story as TSA. So who should the public believe, a group who has been dishonest multiple times over the years or a person with no known history of lying?
#6. To: Gatlin (#5)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#7. To: Deckard (#6)
(Edited)
So who should the public believe, a group who has been dishonest multiple times over the years or a person with no known history of lying?
First of all, I believe that some people always try to find it nice to discover that something they hoped were true really is true and they either don’t carefully evaluate the evidence or their desire for an answer affects the way they superficially evaluate the evidence. In many real-world situations, there can be conflicting evidence from different sources. Studies have shown that people are biased to interpret the evidence in ways that are consistent with their desires. This of course means that people may ultimately believe the weight of evidence supports the position they already wanted to believe was true and they will believe this without recognizing that their own desires influenced the evaluation of the evidence. Should the public believe, a group who has been dishonest multiple times over the years or a person with a diagnosed mental PTSD mental condition, that is taking medication and undergoing therapy for stress brought about by the medical condition of her son, that “couldn't sleep, shaken awake by nightmares that they were back in the intensive care unit and couldn't watch her son sleep at night because to her, he looked dead”....and was reported to be "hysterical" by another passenger?
Finally, The public can believe what they want to believe. Speaking for myself, I find her story hard to believe after studying her mental condition and evaluating anecdotal evidence supplied by my friend with a pacemaker who makes frequent trips through the airport in Phoenix and passes through the alternate screening procedure each time.
#8. To: Deckard (#6)
(Edited)
All passengers have the right to request private screening at any point during the screening process.
Anyone has the right to have a traveling companion present during screening in the private screening area.
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