We like to think that organizations like TSA keep us safe when we’re traveling, but sometimes, the abuse of power and control carried out by TSA officers simply goes too far. An 18-year-old girl named Hannah Cohen suffered the effects of this first hand, and the reasons why will shock and horrify you. Cohen was on her way home from St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis when a scanner at the airport went off as she passed through. Cohen’s physical and mental condition are such that she’s often left easily confused and frightened, so when the alarm went off, she started reacting. Things progressed from there, and what happened next is nothing short of shameful. Find out what happens when TSA agents overstep their boundaries and end up hurting people they are meant to protect in the story below. Warning: Some of these images are graphic and difficult to look at.Coming from Chattanooga, Hannah has been receiving treatment at this hospital for a brain tumor since she was just two years old. Normally, their trip to and from Memphis goes off without a hitch.
This helped calm Hannah, who was often left confused and scared as a side effect of her tumor.
The alarm went off when Hannah went through security, and that’s when things began to fall apart.
“She is a St Jude’s patient, and she can get confused,” she said. “Please be gentle. If I could just help her, it will make things easier.”
She tried to explain to the guards that the alarm may have been set off by the sequins on her shirt. They laughed at her, grabbed her to take her to a “sterile area,” and when she began to struggle, they called over more armed guards.
The brain tumor had left Hannah blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and partially paralyzed, so when the guards grabbed each of her arms, it scared her enough to fight back.
They smashed her face into the floor, injuring her. Mom snapped a picture just before she was ushered to a separate area.
The lawsuit alleges that the TSA did not give Hannah adequate accommodation to screen her. It also makes the claim that Hannah was discriminated against because of her disability.
“These people think they are God,” Shirley Cohen said. “They think they can do anything they want,” she said. “Well, in this country we have the Americans with Disabilities Act. And if they will do this to a disabled girl, does that mean they’ll do it to an 80-year-old grandmother? It’s time for justice.”
