We’ve read story after story about violent and inappropriate behavior in relation to travel:
- The people on a Southwest flight who killed a fellow passenger after his own air rage incident
- The women on a JetBlue flight who cursed out some kids who were kicking their seats
- The man on a Jet2 flight who threatened to pee on a flight attendant while their plane was taxiing (and then urinated on the locked lavatory door instead)
More often than not, those types of horrible incidents happen while people are already on the plane. However they occasionally happen at the airport. Case in point…
A man was arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) last week after he caused a chaotic and disturbing scene at the TSA security checkpoint, including threatening to kill a federal security officer.
As reported by CBS affiliate WCCO, Minneapolis resident Frank Towers, age 44, was charged with threatening Transportation Security Administration, including telling at least one TSA worker that he was going to, “kill them.”
According to the criminal complaint, airport police saw Towers at a skyway-level security checkpoint area, yelling that he was going to kill a TSA employee. He was seen swinging a stanchion (the bar used to help make queues) and throwing it at the agent.
Towers was ordered to stop, but he screamed that he “did not have to stop” his actions because “It’s a free country!”
Police proceeded to Taser Towers, who then attempted to attack an officer while swinging his arms. More police arrived and he was handcuffed and arrested.
Meanwhile, surveillance video footage at MSP showed Towers’ activities about an hour before the incident. He was shown punching and headbutting arrival/departure TV screens, throwing a chair, and removing his clothes and masturbating in the airport.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office filed a complaint against Towers and charged him with fourth-degree assault against a peace officer, as well as making threats of violence with reckless disregard for risk. Both are felonies.
Towers apparently has a significant criminal history which includes three pending cases of assault in Olmsted County, which is about 100 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Each case file notes Towers’ history of mental illness.
Towers appeared in court Monday and remains jailed in lieu of $30,000 bail.
Feature Photo: MSP Airport
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
1 comment
If I had to guess, he was high on something, and now he will just be on no-fly list.