Woman Defends Clash With TSA Agent
A Tennessee woman arrested after refusing an airport pat-down for her 14-year-old daughter has told a judge she was concerned security agents would touch the girl’s crotch.
Andrea Abbott was charged with disorderly conduct July 9 after Transportation Security Administration officers said she was belligerent and uncooperative at the Nashville airport.
Airport officer Jeff Nolen testified at a preliminary hearing Thursday that Abbott created a disturbance by cursing and calling TSA officers pedophiles.
Abbott testified she was confused by the screening process and thought her daughter had been singled out for a pat-down but officers wouldn’t tell her why.
Defense attorney Brent Horst said the case should be dismissed because Abbott was exercising her free speech rights.
General Sessions Court Judge John Brown sent the case to the grand jury.
