A Black woman is questioning whether race was a factor in a Transportation Security Agent’s decision to force her to remove her shirt at a security checkpoint at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport last month.
“Is it because I’m a Black woman?” Aundrea DeMille questioned when speaking to ABC 4 this week.
The incident happened on Feb. 28 when DeMille approached a Delta Air Lines security checkpoint inside the airport. She was returning from hiking in Sedona, Arizona, and was wearing a half-zip top. DeMille says the TSA officer made her remove the shirt, which was the only thing covering her sports bra. DeMille walked through the scanner in only her bra.
“I was in yoga pants and a jogger zip-up jacket and nothing but a sports bra underneath,” said DeMille. “I get ready to go through the scanner where we stand to put our hands up, and there is a middle-aged white gentleman on the other end, and he says, ‘Are you wearing something underneath that?’ And I said, ‘What?’ And he goes, ‘Are you wearing something underneath that?’ So I zip halfway so he could see I’m in nothing but a sports bra, and he says, ‘You have to take that off.’”
TSA responded to the incident in a statement. “On Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, a female traveler came to the security checkpoint at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport wearing a sweatshirt with a full-length metal zipper,” the statement said.
The statement continued, “Knowing that the zipper would likely alarm the security screening technology and then require the traveler to receive a pat-down, the TSA officer asked the traveler if she felt comfortable removing the sweatshirt. The TSA officer’s intent was to offer a more comfortable screening experience and was not told by the traveler that she did not have another shirt under the outer layer.” After the screening, DeMille was permitted to board her flight.
DeMille showed the jacket to ABC 4, which reported that the zipper appeared to be plastic.
“I can’t figure out is it because I’m Black?” she asked. “Is it because I’m a woman? Is it because I’m a Black woman?”
DeMille described her feelings of humiliation during the ordeal. “I’m standing there in nothing but tights, like half-naked. I put my hands up and follow suit, and I look around and no one else is stripping down. At this point I’m shaking. I can’t even look him in the eye.”
TSA also said its procedures do not require travelers to remove clothing during the security screening process, adding, “TSA regrets the miscommunication that led to this traveler’s discomfort.”
As someone appointed by the lieutenant governor and governor of Utah to help write equity, diversity & inclusion policies for the state, DeMille spends her time working with organizations to make them aware of unconscious bias.
She is exploring taking legal action in relation to the incident and had plans to meet with a lawyer on Wednesday.
