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TSA Agent Confuses Pepper Spray With Laser Pointer, With Comic Results
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 27, 2013
Modified Mar 28, 2013
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 27, 2013
Modified Mar 28, 2013
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Our latest installment in the popular "TSA Follies" security theater series comes to us from JFK Airport, where a TSA agent foolishly discharged pepper spray that was discovered at a checkpoint. A Port Authority source tells the Post the agent, one Chris Yves "Barney Fife" Dabel, was “playing around” with the pepper spray after finding it on the floor. In his defense, there's nothing like a thrilling game of Pepper Spray Roulette to alleviate the crushing boredom of working at a TSA checkpoint!
Dabel was trying to determine if it was real, according to the Port Authority source, who adds that Dabel "thought it was a laser pointer." To test his hypothesis, he proceeded to spray five other TSA agents around him, and then joined them for a trip to Jamaica Hospital. (We're guessing Dabel also refused to believe the hospital was real and tested it out by performing eye surgery on himself.)
A spokesperson for the TSA gave us this statement: “Yesterday morning, out of an abundance of caution, six TSA officers at JFK Airport were transported to a local hospital after being exposed to pepper spray. Officers were examining an abandoned item to determine its contents and to move it out of harm’s way when it accidentally discharged. Travelers and other airport employees were not exposed to the spray.”
Yup, this is definitely one for the Hall of Fame. We're putting the plaque up on the wall alongside classics like Salty Security Screener Slings Scalding Sanka After Scolding and Oh D'Oh They Didn't! TSA Posts Airport Screening Manual On Web!
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jfk airport
tsa
tsa follies
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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