marak

This week I went through the DCA TSA Pre-check line with my son. My carryon bag was selected for additional screening. I consented to a bag search, agreed not to touch the bag or its contents during the search, and told the Agent that the bag contains needles and glass vials of medication sandwiched in icepacks. My son was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2016 when he was 10 years old and his medication is critically important. As this is a common occurrence I always pack his medication sandwiched between ice packs and inside a padded container, which I place in an easy-to-access area of the bag. The agent proceeded to unpack the entire bag, including my son’s medications. He then began unwrapping and inspecting each souvenir we had in the bag. In my experience, this was a bit unusual for a bag screening, so I asked the Agent for permission to film his search. The Agent told me that he would prefer I not video his search. I asked for his name and badge number three times and he refused to give it to me. I then asked specifically if TSA allows me to video his search, he said “no” and asked for a supervisor.

Supervisor came over and introduced himself. I asked Supervisor for the Agent’s name and badge number but he refused to provide it. I repeated my request to film the search of my bag. Supervisor stated TSA policy does not allow filming. After some more back-and-forth with Supervisor , the Agent quickly “finished” his search and closed the bag at which point Supervisor told me I was now allowed to film the closed bag (super useful, I know). However in his haste to complete the search, the Agent separated my son’s medication from its protective, insulated case. He also failed to put the insulated case back into the suitcase at all. When I pointed out to Supervisor that the bag wasn’t repacked, he hastily jammed the case back into the suitcase along with an additional item that did NOT belong to me. I repeated to him what I had told the Agent before about being careful of the medication, and I told him to remove the item that does not belong to me from my bag.

Agent damaged my son’s medication and repacked it into the carryon without its icepack and protective case, and Supervisor attempted to provide my bag as “complete” without the medication case. When I protested that the case wasn’t in the carryon, Supervisor further damaged the medication by forcing the case into the carryon, and attempted to add additional items to my bag that do not belong to me. I discovered when I reached my destination that the Agent failed to repack the medication in ice, failed to place it back in its protective case, and put it against the outside of the bag.

I can provide the only photo I was able to take, after Unknown Agent had “completed” the search and “repacked” the bag. The medication case is clearly visible in the background. The additional item placed into the bag by Supervisor is behind the bag and not visible in this picture. I have also taken a picture of the medication which was separated from its icepack and ruined. Medication costs $2640 per vial, and I had two vials on this trip.

I have FOIAed footage from the airport authority which will hopefully show what these idiots did. I also filed a damaged item complaint with TSA. I had to file another FOIA request to find out what the name of the agent was.

anything else I should do?