Senator Rand Paul detained at US airport

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...S-airport.html

Ron Paul's son, Rand, detained at US airport

Senator Rand Paul, the son of the libertarian Republican candidate Ron Paul, was detained by guards at a Tennessee airport on Monday after apparently refusing to submit to a full body pat-down.

Senator Rand Paul (left) apparently refused to submit to a full body search at a US airport

The younger Mr Paul, who like his father is a fierce advocate of civil liberties, was reportedly held at Nashville International Airport by agents from the Transport Security Administration (TSA), an agency he has repeatedly criticised for encroaching on Americans' freedoms.

A spokeswoman for the Kentucky Senator said he was being held "indefinitely" after he set off an alarm in an image scanner used at the airport's security check point.

The 49-year-old reportedly told agents that there was a fault in the machine and refused to submit to a physical search.

His father's campaign tweeted: "My son [@]@SenRandPaul[/@] being detained by TSA for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner in Nashville. More details coming."

In a separate Facebook post post, the campaign said that the senator had asked to be scanned a second time but that agents refused and insisted on a full pat-down.

Supporters of the Republican hopeful, whose campaign is centred around personal liberty, erupted in fury on Twitter and other social media sites.

There was no immediate comment from the TSA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security - the federal department created to defend the US from terrorism in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

In a Congressional hearing last year, the senator said the agency carried out needlessly "invasive" searches on young children.

About time somebody stood upto the government on this, its a gross abuse of power. Jesse Ventura tried taking the TSA to court a while back but failed due to a legal loophole - but either way we ought to fight back rather than be treated like sheep and groped at the airport under the guise of 'the terrorists are everywhere!!'. Standing for what you believe runs strong in the Paul family.

Thoughts?

[Chippiewill]

If he's set off an alarm on the scanner then clearly there's an issue and he needs to be searched.

That's like saying a member of the taliban should refuse a pat-down for explosives because it's an infringement of his rights despite the fact he's already set the alarms off and they can see plastic explosives molded around his body.

[Eoin247]

I have to agree with chippie on this one. This is in my view making a mountain out of a molehill.

[Grig]

If he's set off an alarm on the scanner then clearly there's an issue and he needs to be searched.

That's like saying a member of the taliban should refuse a pat-down for explosives because it's an infringement of his rights despite the fact he's already set the alarms off and they can see plastic explosives molded around his body.

Yes but he offered to go through the scanner again, I would have seen no harm in that if he was cleared. Could have even done it a few more times to make sure. He offered himself, but was refused that. Also, they even searched a 6 year old girl patting her down, as if she would be considered as a terrorist.

Now I have nothing against this thing of patting down and have been myself through the numerous times I travel every couple of months, but I assume this was A. a fully body scan we're talking about which can detect issues, which is what happens in US airports unlike some other airports worldwide and B. an issue that some people, including him violates the rights of a person.

[The Don]

If he's set off an alarm on the scanner then clearly there's an issue and he needs to be searched.

That's like saying a member of the taliban should refuse a pat-down for explosives because it's an infringement of his rights despite the fact he's already set the alarms off and they can see plastic explosives molded around his body.

Couldn't have put it better myself, + Rep.

[FlyingJesus]

A PAT DOWN? OH GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I mean not wanting a cavity search fair enough, but rubbing his shoulders to make sure he hasn't got knives all over him is really not that awful

[FiftyCal]

Do they really think a senator is a threat to national security? Why couldn't they just scan him again?

[GirlNextDoor15]

If he's set off an alarm on the scanner then clearly there's an issue and he needs to be searched.

That's like saying a member of the taliban should refuse a pat-down for explosives because it's an infringement of his rights despite the fact he's already set the alarms off and they can see plastic explosives molded around his body.

Very well said. If he has nothing to hide, then why refuse to be searched? But then again, he asked for a second scan. So, I don't see why not scan him again and if he's cleared, then there'll be no need for a full body pat-down. And seriously, the security is just too strictesp. to foreigners.And the way they treat foreigners is just terrible. Not like the possibility that each foreigner is a terrorist is very high. It fluctuates, like one in a million.

[-:Undertaker:-]

If he's set off an alarm on the scanner then clearly there's an issue and he needs to be searched.

That's like saying a member of the taliban should refuse a pat-down for explosives because it's an infringement of his rights despite the fact he's already set the alarms off and they can see plastic explosives molded around his body.

So where was this issue/explosive device that he had on him? whats that? there was no device and it was a malfunction!?

The fact you are bringing up the Taliban (which isn't even Al-Qaeda) concerning a US Senator at an airport just shows how paranoid you lot really are of the fairytales you've been fed.

“If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad.” - James Madison

[Chippiewill]

So where was this issue/explosive device that he had on him? whats that? there was no device and it was a malfunction!?

Oh sorry, let's make an amendment stating that every-time we suspect a malfunction we let them try again even if we suspect explosives.

The fact you are bringing up the Taliban (which isn't even Al-Qaeda) concerning a US Senator at an airport just shows how paranoid you lot really are of the fairytales you've been fed.

I used a random extreme example for dramatic effect and suddenly you're a qualified psychologist and you've identified that I've been brainwashed by the governments into believing that I should be scared of terrorists? I think I might have legitimate reason for being scared of terrorists to be perfectly honest. I don't see how a US senator should be exempt from a search either, you're always one for telling off politicians when they're exempt from something everyone else isn't.