Nancy Mace Berates Police Officers at Charleston Airport, Incident Report Reveals

South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace engaged in a heated confrontation with law enforcement officers at Charleston International Airport on Thursday, according to an official incident report obtained by WIRED. The document reveals a disturbing pattern of behavior from the elected official, who repeatedly used profanity and made derogatory comments toward the officers tasked with ensuring her security.

The Airport Incident Details

According to the incident report filed by Charleston County Aviation Authority Police Department officers, the confrontation began when Mace failed to follow established security protocols. Officers had been instructed to meet the congresswoman at 6:30 am at the ticketing curb area, where she was expected to arrive in a white BMW. However, the report indicates she never appeared at the designated location.

Instead, around 7 am, dispatch informed officers that Mace had proceeded directly to the entrance for the Known Crewmember program—a trusted access lane typically reserved for flight crew members. When officers quickly located her at this alternate checkpoint, the situation escalated immediately.

Verbal Confrontation and Derogatory Comments

The supplemental incident report filed by one officer details how Mace "immediately began loudly cursing and making derogatory comments to us about the department." According to the documentation, she repeatedly stated the officers were "Fucking incompetent" and declared "this is no way to treat a fucking US Representative."

During the escort to her gate, Mace reportedly continued her tirade, both directly to the officers and into her phone. The report notes she was either on a phone call or dictating text messages while maintaining her verbal assault. Notably, she invoked the name of South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, asserting "we would never treat Tim Scott like this."

Airport Staff Reactions

The incident report reveals that multiple airport staff members expressed shock at the congresswoman's behavior. After Mace's flight departed, an American Airlines gate agent approached the officers and "stated he was in disbelief regarding her behavior. He implied that a US Representative should not be acting the way she was."

Additionally, a TSA supervisor informed officers that he was "very upset with how she acted at the checkpoint" and indicated that Mace had "talked to several TSA agents the same way." The supervisor confirmed they would be "submitting a report to his superiors about her unacceptable behavior."

Official Response and Aftermath

In response to the incident, Mace's director of operations Cameron Morabito issued a statement to WIRED defending the congresswoman's security concerns. "We are forced to take the Congresswoman's safety extremely seriously," Morabito wrote. "Our security procedures are based solely on legitimate safety concerns, and any attempt to politicize this reality is both dangerous and reckless."

However, the incident report concludes with a telling observation from one officer: "Any other person in the airport acting and talking the way she did, our department would have been dispatch (sic) and we would have addressed the behavior." This statement underscores the double standard apparently applied to elected officials regarding appropriate conduct in secure airport environments.