The Kentucky senator was detained by TSA officials at the Nashville airport after setting off the alarm on a full body metal detector, then refusing to be patted down. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.
By NBC News and msnbc.com news services
Updated at 4:25 p.m. ET: Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., clashed with the Transportation Security Administration at a Nashville airport on Monday morning and says that was was "detained" by the government agency.
NBC News reported that he set off a full-body scanning machine while going through airport security. Paul reportedly raised his right pant leg, which may have set off the scanner. Paul, according to aides, said it was ?clearly a glitch? and asked to proceed through the machine a second time. The TSA demanded a full-body pat-down, which Paul refused.
"I was told I couldn't leave, that kind of sounds like you are being detained," Paul told NBC News. "I was put into a small cubicle and told not to leave."
NBC News' Tom Costello reports that, according to sources at the TSA, Paul was not detained, but was escorted by police out of the checkpoint.
In a statement to NBC News, TSA spokesman Greg Soule said, ?When an irregularity is found during the TSA screening process, it must be resolved prior to allowing a passenger to proceed to the secure area of the airport. Passengers who refuse to complete the screening process cannot be granted access to the secure area in order to ensure the safety of others traveling.?
Paul was eventually permitted through airport security, according to Soule. ?The passenger has since rebooked on another flight and was rescreened without incident,? he said in a statement at about noon on Monday.
Paul, who has previously called for the TSA to be abolished, told NBC News that passengers should not be subjected to pat-downs.
"I really think no American should have to go through all of this," he said. "I think if the screener goes off and you don't want to have a pat down search, you ought to be able to go back through the screener." Paul says he was sent back through the screener when he went to board his re-booked flight.
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Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10216573-sen-rand-paul-has-run-in-with-tsa
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