The TSA 'poop bomb' scandal

The image: A picture of an 8-month-old baby getting a patdown by TSA agents at the Kansas City International Airport has ignited yet another controversy about the tradeoff of airport security versus personal privacy. The image was snapped by Rev. Jacob Jester, a pastor who whipped out his cell phone when he saw a still-unidentified family getting thoroughly screened. (See the image below.) Jester shared the snapshot on Twitter, and it took off from there, garnering hundreds of thousands of views, and gaining the dubious title of the "poop bomb" photo, because the TSA agents appear to be searching within the baby's diaper. "Pretty sure that's extreme," Jester said in his tweet. (Watch a local news report about the uproar.)

The reaction: "Something really stinks about the attention this photo is getting," says Blogger Bob at The TSA Blog. TSA agents were simply following "proper current screening procedures" after the child's stroller set off an explosives alarm. It doesn't look so proper to me, says Sierra at Babble. They "were rummaging around the baby's diaper." TSA agents need to focus their "efforts where they'll count, which isn't on the unlikely infantile supervillians." See for yourself:

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up