Airport releases security video of Rand Paul

A security video of Senator Rand Paul at a TSA airport checkpoint in Nashville appears to contradict an initial report to police that described the Kentucky Republican as being ''irate.''

On Monday, TSA officials detained Paul when the Republican from Kentucky refused a patdown after triggering an millimeter wave body scanner alarm at a security checkpoint.

The Nashville Tennessean reported that a local police incident report shows that officers were dispatched in response to a report of "a passenger being irate.'' But according to the newspaper:

[V]ideos released by the Metro Airport Authority late Wednesday [above] show Paul entering the security line at 7:57 a.m. and then alternately sitting and standing in a glass cubicle while being watched by authorities. Paul appears to make a few phone calls as well.
Paul is shown being escorted by an airport official at 9:04 a.m. Paul rebooked his flight and later went through security without incident.

TSA officials have said that officers in Nashville were merely following procedure. Because Paul refused to comply with security procedures, he was denied access to the secure gate area.

In response to Monday's incident, Paul's father, US Representative Ron Paul, a Republican from Texas who is seeking his party's nomination for president, declared that if he was elected he would abolish the agency.