According to Lenore Zimmerman, an 85-year-old woman from Long Island, the TSA strip searched her at Kennedy Airport before allowing her to board her Fort Lauderdale-bound flight. Zimmerman said that she told TSA agents she couldn’t go through the new screening machines due to her defibrillator so they took her into a private screening room. Once in the screening room she claims that TSA agents made her take off her pants and her underwear. Now, TSA is claiming that the woman’s story is not true. Read more after the jump.
The feds on Saturday flatly denied that a 85-year-old Long Island woman was strip-searched at Kennedy Airport, sparking a fresh round of outrage from the already steaming mad granny.
Lenore Zimmerman told the Daily News Friday that security screeners whisked her into a private room and took off all her clothes after she requested a pat down.
A Transportation Security Administration spokesman said “proper procedures were followed†during the Tuesday encounter.
But on Saturday, the TSA went further, saying that a strip search “was not conducted in this case.â€
That prompted a furious response from Zimmerman, who has a defibrillator and uses a walker to get around.
“They’re lying to protect their a– because they’re afraid of being sued — and they will be sued,†Zimmerman fumed from her winter home in Coconut Creek, Fla.
“Why would I make up this story?†Zimmerman added. “In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t think of such a thing happening.â€
Zimmerman was on her way to a Fort Lauderdale-bound flight when she asked if she could forgo the advance image technology screening equipment, fearing it might interfere with her defibrillator.
“They took me into a private screening room and pulled my pants down and then pulled down my underwear,†the 4-feet-11 Zimmerman said. “If that’s not strip-searching, I don’t know what else you’d call it.â€
