US airport officials subject woman aged 96 to search in viral clip branded 'unacceptable' by some viewers

9/11 commemorated around the world
Lucia Binding1 June 2018

A viral clip showing a 96-year-old woman being subjected to an extensive body search by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials has sparked uproar in the US.

Jeanne Clarkson was travelling through Washington-Dulles Airport last week when she captured the invasive process on her World War II veteran mother on camera.

The elderly woman was subjected to a lengthy search process by the TSA – an agency created after the September 11 attacks and intended to fight terrorism – which lasted nearly six minutes.

Posting the full-length clip to Facebook, Ms Clarkson wrote: “I'm so angry. I could spit nails!!!! Look what they did to Mother! 96 years old and subjected to this!”

The video shows two female TSA workers wearing blue gloves, repeatedly touching the wheelchair-bound woman.

The video has been viewed over six million times since it was posted on May 16.

Shocked social media users have flooded the comments section with their opinions on the incident.

One person said: “u friggin serious this is definitely unacceptable she basically molested an elderly woman.”

Someone else said: “I've been thru Dulles many time and have never encountered anything like this. What a travesty. The TSA theater of the absurd is out of control.”

As a third added: “What a shame! That poor lady, this should not happen to our elderly!”

Justifying the TSA’s actions, one user wrote: “Just doing their job”.

Another defended the fight against terrorism, adding: "If you want to fly you have to agree to be searched. The TSA was professional. I thought your mom handled it better than you."

The TSA, an agency of the US Department of Homeland Security, has authority over the travelling public in the United States and is chiefly concerned with air travel.

The pat-down procedures “routinely involve the touching of buttocks and genitals” as well as breasts. They initially proved controversial, with 50 per cent claiming they were too extreme in a 2010 poll, while 48 per cent felt they were justified.

On their website, the TSA state that their mission is to “protect the nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.”

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