Mom angry over Dallas airport pat down of special needs son

GRAPEVINE, Texas – A mother says she and her special needs son were “treated like dogs” after her request for alternate screening at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport led an officer to closely pat down the boy.

Jennifer Williamson videotaped Sunday’s search of her son, Aaron, who appears to co-operate. The Facebook video was viewed nearly 6 million times by Tuesday.

Williamson, who didn’t give her son’s age or their destination, says he has sensory processing disorder. She says he didn’t set off any alarms through security.

A Transportation Security Administration statement says approved procedures were followed to resolve an alarm on the passenger’s laptop.

Williamson says they were detained more than an hour.

TSA officials say Williamson and her son were at the checkpoint 45 minutes, including to discuss screening procedures with her.