Watch the EWR Newark Airport security tape here (It’s galling)

Just released by Senator Frank Lautenberg’s office, the tape of the guy who snuck into the secure area through the exit is galling. For the entire time-lapse video, he is standing near the TSA officer. At one point, the officer seems to walk over to him and tell him to move a little further away from the rope line which he is standing near. Everything looks pretty ordinary for a good long while. And then, around 4:45, the TSA officer simply stands up and walks away from his podium, completely out of camera range and proximity to the exit he’s supposed to be guarding.

Shortly thereafter (in timelapse anyway) the woman the guy has been waiting to see appears, about to exit the secure area. She gives the man a peck OVER the desk where the guard should be sitting! It then appears the man decides to go around the desk and rope, and walk against the flow of people back into the secure area of the terminal with her. And that’s the end of the video. So easily preventable, and the result of one TSA agent leaving his post is thousands of travelers evacuated from the airport for hours.

I’ve uploaded the video to YouTube. Wait for the TSA agent to walk over to the man, which happens near the start of the video. Then, fast forward to about 4:30 to catch the action, unless video of people exiting the secure area of the terminal is the sort of thing that endlessly fascinates you.