WICHITA, Kan. – The grandmother of a 4-year-old girl who became hysterical at an airport said Wednesday that the child was forced to undergo a pat-down after hugging her, with security agents yelling and calling the girl uncooperative.
The incident has been garnering increasing media and online attention since the child’s mother, Michelle Brademeyer of Montana, detailed the ordeal in a Facebook post last week. The Transportation Security Administration is defending its agents, despite procedures aimed at reducing pat-downs of children.
The child’s grandmother, Lori Croft, said that Brademeyer and her daughter, Isabella, initially passed through security at the Wichita airport without incident. The girl then ran over to briefly hug Croft, who was awaiting a pat-down after tripping the alarm, and that’s when TSA agents insisted the girl undergo a physical pat-down.
Isabella had just learned about “stranger danger” at school, her grandmother said, adding that the girl was afraid and unsure about what was going on.
“She started to cry, saying ‘No I don’t want to,’ and when we tried talking to her she ran,” Croft said. “They yelled, ‘We are going to shut down the airport if you don’t grab her.”‘
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