News

Actions

Disabled teen sues Memphis International Airport, TSA after bloody scuffle

Posted at 3:51 PM, Jul 01, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-01 15:52:12-04

(WREG, CNN NEWSOURCE) Bloodied and bruised, Hannah Cohen is led from Memphis International Airport in handcuffs.

"They grabbed her from both sides, it freaked her out," said her mother Shirley Cohen.

The 19-year-old headed home to Chattanooga after treatment for a brain tumor at St. Jude.
It's a trip they've made for 17-years.

But this time an unarmed Hannah set off the metal detector at a security checkpoint.

"They wanted to do further scanning, and she was very reluctant, she didn't understand what they were about to do,” Shirley said.

Shirley said that she tried to tell TSA agents her daughter is deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed and easily confused. But says she was kept a distance away by police. "She's trying to get away from them but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor and I looked and there was blood everywhere."

Hannah was arrested, booked and on the night she should have been celebrating the end of her treatment she was locked up. 

"Here we were with nowhere to go, not even a toothbrush, our bags had already gone to Chattanooga," Hannah’s mother said.

Authorities later threw out the charges. But the family filed a lawsuit against the Memphis Airport, airport police and TSA.

None of them would comment citing the suit, but TSA did say "passengers can call ahead of time to learn more about the screening process for their particular needs or medical situation."