TSA officers at LaGuardia Airport purchase shirt for youngster who did not have one

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Local Press Release
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Lead TSA Officer Ravi Rampersad with young boy who came to LaGuardia Airport with his coat, but no shirt. Rampersad and a colleague purchased a T-shirt for the young boy. (TSA photo)
NEW YORK —  A father and his young son were traveling through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at LaGuardia Airport this morning on their way to Denver, and as the young boy began to remove his coat to go through the checkpoint, TSA officers saw that he had no shirt on beneath his coat.

The father and son were escorted into a private screening room to complete the checkpoint screening process and that’s where the father told TSA officers that all of their clothes had been placed in a checked bag and he was not aware that his son was not wearing a shirt until they arrived at the checkpoint.

With temperatures in Denver expected to dip into the 30s at night, the TSA officers were concerned that the young man would be cold with just a coat and no shirt. Two TSA officers excused themselves from the checkpoint, went over to a nearby airport shop and purchased an NYPD T-shirt for the boy. Both father and son expressed their thanks for the kind gesture as one of the TSA officers then went out of his way to escort the pair to their gate and took some snapshots to share with the two travelers.

“This simple act of kindness and empathy serves as an excellent example of how our TSA officers can and do make a difference in the lives of strangers,” said TSA Federal Security Director Robert Duffy. “The officers involved in today’s gesture are truly unsung heroes.”

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