TSA defends patdown of 6-year-old girl

NEW ORLEANS, April 13 (UPI) -- The Transportation Security Administration is defending the patdown of a 6-year-old girl at the New Orleans airport, which was caught on video.

The date of the incident at Armstrong International Airport is not known, but a video posted on YouTube last weekend attracted national attention, WDSU-TV, New Orleans, reported.

Airport officials confirmed the video, in which a female TSA agent pats down the girl from head to toe with gloved hands, was shot at the Southwest Airlines gate.

"TSA has reviewed the incident and determined that this officer followed proper current screening procedures," the agency said.

But the agency is "reviewing its screening policies and procedures to streamline and improve the screening experience for low-risk populations, such as younger passengers," the statement added.

Marjorie Esman of the American Civil Liberties Union disagreed.

"Her rights were violated," she said. "It's outrageous. The child is saying, 'I don't want to, I don't want to.' They didn't even give her the privacy of a separate room. To have a stranger stick her hand down her pants in public: it's shocking. It shows no respect."