A CBS News affiliate recently interviewed Dallas resident Ellen Terrell about her claims that she was targeted for full-body screening at DFW Airport because of her looks. Terrell says that she was asked three times to have her body scanned, so that TSA officials in a separate room could review the images displayed. It’s against TSA policy to ask a passenger to go through body scanners multiple times. Terrell also says that the agent who was posted by the scanner commented on her “cute” figure. The TSA has denied profiling passengers based on looks or for any other reason.
The report doesn’t specify when exactly the incident occurred, only saying that it happened “several months ago,” and Terrell never filed an official complaint because she says didn’t know that she could. But after leaving the airport, Terrell says it dawned on her that she had been targeted for scanning because of her appearance, even though the TSA agents in the reviewing rooms cannot see the passengers who are going through security. Terrell says that she is just one of many women who have been treated inappropriately by TSA officers using their authority to ogle women in backrooms
