“He related that when a male he finds attractive comes to be screened by the scanning machine he will alert another TSA screener to indicate to the scanning computer that the party being screened is a female. When the screener does this, the scanning machine will indicate an anomaly in the genital area and this allows (the male TSA screener) to conduct a pat-down search of that area.”
The TSA learned of the troubling accusations in November of 2014, from an anonymous tip, but did not act upon it for almost three months.
Chris Higgins, a TSA security supervisor, observed the screening area at DIA observing employees. He notes, “At about 0925 he observed (the male TSA screener) appear to give a signal to another screener … (the second female screener) was responsible for the touchscreen system that controls whether or not the scanning machine alerts to gender- specific anomalies.”
According to a law enforcement report, the TSA employee saw a male passenger enter the scanner at the airport “and observed (the female TSA agent) press the screening button for a female. The scanner alerted to an anomaly, and Higgins observed (the male TSA screener) conduct a pat down of the passenger’s front groin and buttocks area with the palm of his hands, which is contradictory to TSA searching policy.”
Higgins discussed the incident with the female agent, who was an accomplice in these series of assaults on male passengers. She confessed that this happened at least ten other times.
Though the incident was caught on video, the TSA has not yet released it.
