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Part of: Charleston airport / TSA incident (Oct. 2025, June 2026)

Dispatch

Airport police investigation: Mace turned a 'minor miscommunication' into a 'spectacle'

An internal investigation by the Charleston County Aviation Authority Police, reported by The Washington Post on Dec. 8, 2025, found that while officers shared some responsibility for a vehicle-color mix-up, Mace's 'continued failure to follow established procedures' was what turned a minor miscommunication 'into the spectacle that this issue has become.'

Airport police investigation: Mace turned a 'minor miscommunication' into a 'spectacle'
Photo: Washington Post. Source

On Dec. 8, 2025, The Washington Post reported on a 10-page internal investigation by Charleston County Aviation Authority Police Chief James A. Woods, dated Nov. 12. The report acknowledged shared responsibility for miscommunicating the color of Mace's vehicle at the security checkpoint but faulted Mace for what followed:

"While it is clear that we hold a certain level of responsibility in miscommunicating the color of Congresswoman Mace's vehicle, it's also equally clear that her continued failure to follow established procedures at the checkpoint is what turned a minor miscommunication over the color of a vehicle into the spectacle that this issue has become for our employees and airport workers."

Police Chief James A. Woods, internal investigation report, Nov. 12, 2025

Mace's camp characterized the report as an "exoneration." The report itself, as quoted by The Washington Post and the Washington Examiner, reached the opposite conclusion on her conduct at the checkpoint.

Source: Washington Post · archived · Washington Examiner · Spectrum Local News

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