Thu, Nov 04, 2010
One Bomb Appraisal Officer (BAO) Reportedly Asked Several
Passengers About Planted White Powder
You may remember a story ANN reported in January about
a
TSA officer who allegedly planted a baggie containing white
powder in the bag of a college student, asking her if the material
was hers. 22-year-old Rebecca Solomon was clearing security in
Philadelphia when she says a TSA agent held up a plastic bag
containing a white powder and asked "Where did you get this from?"
The agent reportedly allowed the terrified student to stutter and
stammer "I've never seen that before" for nearly a minute before
admitting he was "just kidding." ABC news reports that Solomon
detailed the incident in an editorial in her college newspaper, the
Michigan Daily.
Now, a memo obtained through a Freedom of Information Request by
the website "The Smoking Gun" shows that the Bomb Appraisal Officer
(BAO) in question played the "joke" on multiple passengers while
waiting for data collection to be done on other equipment in
separate security lanes.
The memo, which redacts the name of the BAO, indicates that on
two occasions the officer confronted passengers retrieving their
luggage from the X-Ray machine, and asking if they had anything
they shouldn't have in their luggage. In both instances, when the
passengers said "no," the BAO reportedly held up a vial of Creatine
Powder, a substance which was part of the unrelated equiment
evaluation process. In both instances, the BAO eventually
told the passengers he was "just checking" and then said "have a
nice flight."
The University of Maryland Medical Center website describes
Creatine as "a naturally occurring amino acid (protein building
block) that's found in meat and fish, and also made by the human
body in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. It is converted into
creatine phosphate or phosphocreatine and stored in the muscles,
where it is used for energy." It is often listed as a body-building
supplement.
There was at least one discrepancy between the woman's
description and that of the memo. In the document, the container is
described as a 'vial" of white powder, while the woman alleged it
was a "baggie". The memo does not detail any further action from
the incident.
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