TSA sets pandemic-era screen record at start of Memorial Day weekend
29 May 2021
The Transportation Security Administration on Friday screened nearly 2 million people across the U.S. as the Memorial Day weekend kicked off, setting a new air travel record since the start of the pandemic.
The big picture: TSA spokesperson Mark Howell told Axios in April that the agency had been preparing for a surge in summer travel since the beginning of the year. The agency said in February it was looking to hire 6,000 new officers by Memorial Day.
- Since international travel is still limited, summer trips are expected to be mostly domestic, Axios' Hope King reports.
- Airport traffic in Orlando has reached 90% of 2019 levels, and hotels are booked solid along the Florida coasts, AP reports.
Flashback: The last time TSA screened 1.9 million people was on March 8, 2020.
- This time in 2019, TSA screened more than 2.5 million travelers.
What to watch: Over 37 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more this Memorial Day weekend (6 million fewer than in 2019), according to AAA.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.