The TSA has been tight-lipped so far about what the videotape shows from Sunday night's chaos at Newark Airport, after a man walked the wrong way through an exit lane.
But Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has now seen the tape, and tells NBCNewYork.com that, "It was pretty illuminating."
Lautenberg was only able to look at the video stored by a backup camera belonging to Continental Airlines. The primary camera system, owned by the Port Authority but operated by the TSA, failed to record.
"There was a request by the guard to move away," Lautenberg said of the videotape he saw. "He stands there stubbornly and keeps eying the place around him, looking one side to the other and finally when he sees a moment to get through he does."
Then, "the guard turned his back and this fellow moved very quickly," added Lautenberg.
It all went downhill from there as a traveler told another security agent what happened and the TSA looked for a camera recording that could confirm the event. Two hours later, Terminal C was shut down.
More than ever, Lautenberg wants the individual found, "to show those out there who are interested in this kind of trickery that we're going to go after you."
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As for the guard, the TSA now says he was not only reassigned, but also placed on administrative leave. And sources with the Port Authority confirm that one of their police officers wrote him a ticket for "breach of rules" Sunday night.
The result could be the agent losing his airport ID card, effectively losing his job, as well as a fine for him, or even for the TSA.
