Courtesy Patricia MartinRetired Marine Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz during a TSA screening at the airport in Sacramento, Calif.
A wounded Purple Heart Marine's humiliating experience at a security checkpoint in California has left supporters and an assemblyman outraged.
The extra scrutiny faced by Marine Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz last month - prompted because he was wearing 'too much metal' - is the latest incident highlighting how injured veterans tackle strict security measures in a post-9/11 world.
Kemnitz's supporters told the Military Times there was no need for the mistreatment by workers - and even wrote Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki about the incident.
'What does a uniform and heroism represent if our own citizens - in this case employees of the TSA and security personnel - have no regard for them?' wrote Patricia Martin, veterans services coordinator at Pasadena City College who was also with Kemnitz when he went through security.
Martin told the Daily News on Tuesday that security screeners need to employ 'critical thinking' when it comes to checking wounded service members.
'Ask for a military ID, pull him aside - but don't degrade him in front of everyone,' she said.
RELATED: TSA HAS COMPLETELY REMOVED REVEALING X-RAY SCANNERS: REP
Kemnitz, a Pasadena City College graduate, was being honored by the California Assembly at the State Capitol in Sacramento when he had to go through screenings at the local airport and the Capitol building.
He said he was asked to raise his arms through the full-body scanner at Sacramento International Airport.
'My right arm doesn't work. It's a lot of hassle for me to do that,' Kemntiz, 29, told the Military Times.
The Houston native was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and was injured by enemy explosives a month before he was set to leave.
The IED sent shrapnel flying into his face, damaging nerves and permanently injuring his arm.
Kemnitz couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.
RELATED: PORTLAND MAN WHO STRIPPED FOR TSA FIGHTS $1,000 FINE
At the Sacramento airport, Transportation Security Administration workers searched under the medals fastened on his dress uniform jacket and swabbed his shoes for explosives.
But Kemnitz became annoyed when he went to the Capitol and screeners demanded he remove his uniform top because he had on 'too much metal.' A heated argument followed.
'They asked him to disrobe,' Martin said. 'That to me is mind-boggling.'
The state legislator who was honoring Kemnitz that day as 'Veteran of the Year' also expressed disappointment in what happened.
'This was a very unfortunate incident that happened on a day when the California Assembly was honoring a true hero,' Assemblyman Chris Holden said in a statement, adding, 'I was proud to honor Marine Cpl. Kemnitz ... and was disappointed at the humiliation he received as he entered the state Capitol.'
A spokesman for the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, which oversees security screening at the Capitol, told ABC affiliate KXTV that the interaction with Kemnitz took about a minute and 20 seconds.
RELATED: TSA DETAINS WHEELCHAIR-BOUND TODDLER
'People who come to the Capitol, just like when you go to the courts or get on an airplane, we have to go through the screening,' said spokesman Mark Hedlund.
The TSA said in a statement that it treats wounded service members and veterans with 'the dignity they deserve.'
But no matter the passenger, any anomaly detected at a checkpoint requires additional screening, the TSA added.
The agency did recently revise its rules to no longer require wounded soldiers and veterans to remove their shoes, light jackets and hats at airport security. The change was prompted by an incident involving a Marine who was forced to remove his prosthetic legs at a Phoenix airport.
Still, the incident in Sacramento has rankled Kemnitz.
'You could almost say the terrorists won because now we're searching our own men and women in uniform,' he told KXTV.
eortiz@nydailynews.com
ON A MOBILE DEVICE? CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
0 komentar "Wounded Iraq vet ordered to remove Marine dress jacket at security screening", Baca atau Masukkan Komentar
Posting Komentar