TSA supervisor at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport accused of taking photos of young female travelers

A federal security supervisor at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport — who was already in trouble for taking a video of a boy riding on a luggage conveyor belt — also is accused of snapping dozens of photos of young females undergoing flight screening.

The discovery was made during an investigation into the 9-year-old boy's unauthorized ride on May 1. That inquiry led to Bjorn R. Broms, 37, of Savage, being charged Monday in Hennepin County District Court with a violation of government data practices, a misdemeanor.

Broms awaits his first court date in the conveyor belt incident. Reached by phone Tuesday, he declined to comment on those allegations.

The criminal complaint also alleges that 42 photos, taken over the course of a year by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent, show females on a closed-circuit monitor in various outfits, such as shorts, tight pants and tank tops.

However, the count filed in the criminal complaint only references the conveyor belt incident. Airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said that "based on the information we have at present, we do not anticipate additional criminal charges" in connection with the photos allegedly taken from March 8, 2020, to March 27, 2021.

Hogan continued, "The charge listed in the complaint is supported not only by video of the child on the baggage conveyance system but also by the photos of females being screened."

Hogan also said it would be difficult for investigators to determine the identities of the females to notify them that their images were captured.

"There are, of course, usually dozens of people going through various security lanes at any given time," he said. "The TSA reviews everyone's documents, but we don't have data that would enable us to identify those in security lines."

As to why no charges were expected in connection with the photos, Hogan said, "There are a number of factors that go into deciding what and how many charges to file, and we don't want to get into specifics since this is an active case. The bottom line is that Airport Police were able to identify a pattern of behavior that supports the current charge."

TSA spokeswoman Jessica Mayle said Tuesday that Broms was hired in 2007 and is a supervisory transportation security officer. He is now on administrative leave as the investigation continues. His security badge also has been seized.

In reference to the conveyor belt incident, the complaint says that Broms recorded videos from closed-circuit imagery of the boy climbing onto a baggage conveyor belt behind a Delta ticket counter and going for a brief ride.

Airport police found the youngster unharmed.

Broms then sent video footage of the boy's unauthorized excursion to Minnesota Public Radio, which posted the imagery on its website, the complaint continued.

A fellow TSA agent told an airport detective that she heard Broms say, " 'I should sell this to the news. I would make quite a bit of money,' " according to the court charging document.

Public Radio spokeswoman Kelly Reller said Tuesday that "in accordance with our newsroom's ethics guidelines," the network did not pay for the video.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482