Child Forced to Remove Shirt in New Zealand Airport to Avoid Making Travelers ‘Feel Anxious’

In a New Zealand Airport security deemed it necessary to make sure the child wearing the snake shirt put something else on to avoid making people feel nervous when they encountered him in the airport.

The New Zealand Herald reported that the boy, Stevie Lucas, was flying accompanied by family from O.R. Tambo International Airport to South Africa for a vacation.

On December 17, Lucas was approached by security and informed that the 10-year-old’s  shirt depicting a snake was considered a potential threat, and demanded that he remove the shirt.

“Security officers have the right to determine if an object has the potential to harm fellow passengers and crew members,” said by an airport representative to the Daily Mail.

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Lucas’s parents, Steve and Marga had the 10-year-old flip his shirt inside out so the snake was no longer visible.

Now that it appeared as though the boy was wearing a simple black shirt, he and his family were permitted aboard their flight to South Africa.

Lucas, according to his family, was not negatively affected by the ludicrous encounter with airport security.

As reported by Yahoo, “Stevie’s parents said their son thankfully remained in good spirits throughout the ordeal and even ‘proposed a toast’ to their South African adventure upon the family’s return home from the trip.”

After the incident it remained the position of the New Zealand Airport Security that the choice to approach Lucas and his family was purely altruistic and with the purpose of protecting passengers who may potentially feel anxiety when encountering a young man wearing a snake shirt with his family at an airport.