TSA agent 'shamed' 15-year-old girl over outfit, father says

TSA agent 'shamed' 15-year-old girl over outfit, father says


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LOS ANGELES — The founder of the popular website Boing Boing said Sunday that a TSA agent at LAX "shamed" his daughter for wearing clothes that the agent considered too revealing.

Bloggers and social media users have come to the girl's defense while an investigation is apparently being opened at the airport.

The father, Mark Frauenfelder, said his daughter Sarina was travelling with a group of fellow high school students on a college tour when the incident took place. He said Sarina texted him after the incident saying that it "shook her up."

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"She said the officer was 'glaring' at her and mumbling," he wrote in a post on Boing Boing. "She said, 'Excuse me?' and he said, 'You're only 15, COVER YOURSELF!' in a hostile tone."

Sarina was wearing leggings and a white tank top covered by a flannel button down — an outfit that most commenters deemed reasonable.

Frauenfelder wrote Sunday that it doesn't matter what she was wearing, however, "because it's none of his business to tell girls what they should or should not wear."

"His creepy thoughts are his own problem, and he shouldn't use his position of authority as an excuse to humiliate a girl and blame her for his sick attitude," he wrote.

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Readers of the blog quickly came to the girl's defense.

"It shows real strength of character that she said something," posted reader mtdna. "A lot of people, including most adults, would be too intimidated."

"We regret that this passenger had an unpleasant experience and are in the process of thoroughly reviewing the circumstances," TSA spokesman David Castelveter told NBC News.

Frauenfelder said the TSA and LAX are opening an investigation.

"The supervising officer we met with, Officer Murphy, was apologetic, concerned, and professional," he wrote. "He cc'd me on his incident report to his manager and it looks like they are taking this seriously, which is good to know."

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