Update on Andrea Abbott

The mother who protected her daughter from the TSA, only to be rewarded with arrest, has issued a statement through her attorney. (I guess this means that charges haven't been dropped.) When I originally blogged about this at LRC, I wrote:

...the details get fuzzy because, all of a sudden, Abbott did an about-face and "allowed" the pat-down of her daughter. It seems much more likely that she was threatened and bullied to the point where she was worn down.

Am I a genius or what? (What: clearly the TSA's bullying behavior is predictable by anyone with half a brain). Here's what Abbott says happened:

“The officer was rude and bullied me. He had no intention of resolving the problem and assisting in the situation, but his solution was to put me in jail and threaten to put my daughter in foster care,” [Andrea Abbott] stated.

Nice, TSA. Real classy.

Furthermore, we also learn about Abbott's daughter's age. She's 14. That is, she is old enough to get the "adult" pat-down - including 4 vaginal karate chops and full breast massage - and not the slightly-more-tame pat-down reserved for under-13's. Frankly, Abbott could have done a lot more than yelled and cursed at the agent, and I'd still be behind her 100%. This is child molestation, plain and simple.

As for not wanting her daughter to get a scan:

1. Child pornography. Period.
2. See my recent coverage on the "safety" of scanners. Basically, we know nothing. And, certainly, we don't know how children will be affected as compared to adults.

Good for you, Andrea, for doing what every good parent should do: protecting your daughter from unnecessary harm and molestation!