Rand Paul, the son of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, was detained Monday by Transportation Security Administration officials after setting off an alarm while he passed through a scanner at Nashville Airport. Rand Paul is a Republican Senator in Kentucky. The Senator’s spokesperson, Moira Bagley, confirmed via Twitter, writing, “Just got a call from @SenRandPaul, He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”
Senator Paul said that “he asked for another scan but refused to submit to a pat down by airport security,” the AP reported. Paul went on to say he was held in a small cubicle and not able to make his flight to Washington which caused him to miss a Senate vote later in the day. He was able to board a later flight.
Senator Paul told the Associated Press in a phone interview that the alarm was apparently triggered by his knee. He said there is no medical hardware in or around his knee and the problem was with the machine. Paul claims he offered to walk through the machine again but the TSA refused. He then refused a pat-down. ABC news reports the TSA disagree with the term “detained” and say that the Senator was escorted from the screening area by local law enforcement. During a news conference Paul said he asked if he could speak on his phone and TSA agents replied, “If you talk on your phone you will get the full body treatment.” He then said, “I don’t want the full body pat-down, but I do need to call somebody to tell them I’m not coming to Washington.” He said, “It was an ordeal but I feel it is an ordeal for a lot of travelers.” Paul went on to say that he felt he was part of a random pat-down because he did go back through the machine later.
Senator Paul has been critical of TSA procedures. During a Senate hearing last summer Paul said, “You’ve gone overboard and you’re missing the boat on terrorism because you’re doing these invasive searches on six-year-old girls. I think you oughta get rid of the random pat-downs. The American public is unhappy with them. They’re unhappy with the invasiveness of them.”