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Morrissey Says He Was Groped By TSA Officer At San Francisco Airport, Airport Denies Claims

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 01:48 PST, Jul 31, 2015

Morrissey says he was “groped” by a TSA officer at a San Francisco airport, and now the airport is denying his claims.

According to Fox News, Morrissey, a British singer/songwriter, claimed he was sexually assaulted by a male TSA officer at the San Francisco International Airport earlier this week.

In a blog post, posted to True to You, the former frontman of The Smiths said the event took place on Monday, July 27, as he was going through the security check in preparation to board flight BA 284 from California to London.

“At 2:30 in the afternoon I went through the usual airport security procedure including the stand-up ‘scanner’, and all was well – no bleeps and nothing unusual,” he explained.

“Before I could gather my belongings from the usual array of trays I was approached by an ‘airport security officer’ who stopped me, crouched before me and groped my penis and testicles. He quickly moved away as an older ‘airport security officer’ approached. “

Morrissey was traveling with two British Airways Special Services, who were “horrified” at what they just witnessed, and urged him to immediately file a complaint against the officer.

While hesitant at first, the Special Service agents talked him into lodging the complaint, but before he did, Morrissey confronted the officer, identified as the general manager on duty, who would only respond with “that’s just your opinion.”

Below is the transcript of their conversation:

You have just sexually groped this man.

Officer: That’s just your opinion.

What you have done is illegal.

Officer: That’s just your opinion.

You have no right to do what you have just done.

Officer: That’s just your opinion.

In a statement to Rolling Stone, TSA spokesperson Mike England said they reviewed the CCTV footage, and found the officer had done nothing wrong and was complying with standard operating procedures.

“TSA takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and strives to treat every passenger with dignity and respect. Upon review of closed circuit TV footage, TSA determined that the supervised officer followed standard operating procedures in the screening of this individual.”

Morrissey apparently expected this reaction from the airport and made a comment suggesting it prior to them releasing their statement. He also urged others, who planned to fly out of the airport, to expect sexual abuse from the officers.

“In the interests of imperishable bureaucracy my submitted complaint against this ‘officer’ will obviously be either unread or ignored because, as we all know, on matters of officialism it is not possible to be pleasantly surprised by anything at all,” he wrote. “However, what is clear is that, should you find yourself traveling through San Francisco International Airport, you should expect sexual abuse from the so-called ‘security officers’ who, we are unconvincingly warned, are acting only for our security.”

Airport officials have yet to release a official comment on the incident.

What do you think about Morrissey’s claims against the TSA officer at the San Francisco International Airport? Leave your comments below.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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