http://news.yahoo.com/rand-paul-pat-down-standoff-tsa-nashville-153342775--abc-news.html





Sen. Rand Paul told his communications director this morning he was being detained by TSA at the Nashville airport.


The Twitter account associated with Paul staffer Moira Bagley, @moirabagley, tweeted around 10 a.m., ET, “Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”


A TSA spokesman disputed that Paul was ever “detained.” But he was not granted access to the secure area of the airport.


The TSA version of events is that Paul was not detained, but
triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to
complete the screening process (pat-down) in order to resolve the
issue. Paul was escorted out of the screening area by local law
enforcement.
“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,” according to an official statement released by
TSA. “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’s office confirmed he set off an airport security full-body scanner “on a glitch,” according to a spokesman.


The Paul staffer said TSA agents would not let Paul walk back through the body scanner and were demanding a full body pat-down.


The Paul spokesman said his office called TSA administrator John Pistole about the incident this morning.


The Senate is back in session today at 2 p.m., with votes scheduled at 4:30 p.m.


The issue of pat-downs has been an important one to Paul, the son of
libertarian-leaning Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Sen.
Paul brought this issue up at a hearing earlier this year.