An outraged family are suing airport police and the TSA after their disabled daughter was injured, and then arrested, by security workers at Memphis International Airport checkpoint.
Disabled cancer patient sues airport and TSA after bloody checkpoint scuffle. Cohen told us she tried to tell TSA agents her daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed, and easily.
Hannah Cohen, 19, was flying home to Chattanooga on June 30, 2015, after receiving treatment at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.
She has an impairment from radiation and removal of a brain tumor, and is limited in her ability to talk, walk, stand, see and hear, her attorneys say.
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A bloodied and terrified Hannah Cohen looks up at the camera after her mother and attorneys claim she was assaulted by TSA agents at the Memphis International Airport
When an alarm went off as she and her mother were going through a security checkpoint operated by the Memphis International Airport Police Department and the Transportation Safety Administration, the teenager became disoriented by the alarm and the security workers' attempts to search her, the lawsuit says.
'The security personnel failed to recognize that she was confused because of her obvious disability and was unable to cooperate with the search,' Cohen's lawyers, Kelly Pearson and William Hardwick, wrote in the lawsuit.
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The lawsuit alleges that security personnel assaulted Hannah at the checkpoint, 'causing her physical and emotional injury as well as emotional injury' to her mother.
Hannah was arrested, but the charges were later dropped.
Hannah has been traveling through the airport to St. Jude's Hospital for 17 years to treat a brain tumor but this time ended in a brawl
Her mother, Shirley Cohen, said she tried to tell TSA agents about her daughter's disability, but she was kept away by police.
'She's trying to get away from them but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor. There was blood everywhere,' Shirley told WREG-TV.
Her daughter had nothing on her that should have set off the alarm, her mother said, but security wanted additional screening anyway.
Shirley Cohen added: 'She was very reluctant. She didn't understand what they were about to do.'
The family filed a federal lawsuit against the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority and the TSA for damages that include pain, medical expenses, personal and emotional injury, and embarrassment.
Hannah's mom, Shirley, says her daughter was disoriented and frightened by TSA agents who didn't understand how to treat a woman with a disability
The lawsuit alleges that the TSA and airport police discriminated against Cohen because of her disability and failed to provide reasonable accommodation for screening her.
The suit asks for a 'reasonable sum not exceeding $100,000 and costs.'
TSA spokesman Mark Howell and Jerry Brandon, chief of public safety of the Memphis International Airport Police Department, said they could not comment on pending litigation.
'Anybody can file anything, and we don't comment on active litigation,' Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority president and CEO Scott Brockman told The Commercial Appeal newspaper.
'Clearly there are additional facts in this matter, and we won't comment until we address the litigation.'
Attack: The disturbing incident happened at the Memphis International Airport on June 30, 2015
- In Abuse of Authority
- July 1, 2016
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A disabled girl who is partially deaf, blind in one eye, and suffering from a brain tumor which causes confusion, has filed a lawsuit against the Memphis Airport and the TSA after she was bloodied and arrested during a security check.
Hannah Cohen, 19, was returning home to Chattanooga with her mother from her regular trip to St. Jude’s hospital where she receives treatment for her brain tumor. It’s a trip they have been making for 17 years — only this trip ended with Hannah being led from the Memphis International Airport bloodied and in handcuffs.
CBS’s News Channel 3 reports:
“They wanted to do further scanning, she was reluctant, she didn’t understand what they were about to do,” said her mother Shirley Cohen.
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Cohen told us she tried to tell TSA agents her daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed, and easily confused, but said she was kept at a distance by police.
“She’s trying to get away from them but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor. There was blood everywhere,” said Cohen.
Hannah was arrested, booked and on the night she should have been celebrating the end of her treatment, she was locked up in Jail East.
“Here we were with no where to go, not even a toothbrush, our bags had gone to Chattanooga,” said Cohen.
The charges were later thrown out, but that is not enough for the Cohens. They are suing the airport and the TSA.
TSA refused to comment on the matter, only stating that, “Passengers can call ahead of time to learn more about the screening process for their particular needs or medical situation.”