Miami International Airport detained Aaron Franklin after mistaking his Wii Controller for an explosive. TSA officials responded after baggage scanners detected something “suspicious,” in Franklin’s carry on. This triggered the airport’s security protocols creating significant delays.
“It was surreal, I’m waiting for my baggage to come through the scanner and all of a sudden I’m being tackled,” Franklin stated. Franklin denies injuries and describes the whole event as “…Embarrassing and humiliating.” He states he was returning to his home in Cedar Hill, TN after competing in the qualifiers for the Nintendo World Championship in Miami, FL. Franklin did not make the qualifying round.
This comes on the same day that an inspectors general’s report revealed that TSA failed to detect fake bombs and banned weapons a majority of the time. This massive system-wide security issue seems to have triggered an overly cautious security protocol. Saul Rossi of Customer Relations stated, “We’re trying to keep flying publicly safe. Being safe is not always convenient. I’m sorry that Mr. Franklin was inconvenienced, but we feel we acted accordingly.”
Arron Franklin declined further comments.
