Many years ago airport security was not even an issue. People felt secure and safe and rarely worried about being searched. As time went on, the prevealance of terrorism became an increasing issue. There began more acts of terrorism by threatening and holding hostages on board commercial planes. As these acts continued, the government as well as citizens became vulnerable and an airport safety procedure was implemented as a way to ensure the safety of the United States. The implemented procedures over the years included a check and scan of all carry on and checked baggage, body scans, hire government airport employees, and a strict list of carry-on items. This made travelers feel safer as it decreased the ability of terrorist to commit vicious acts of violence. Over the years, airport security has become more stringent and traveling now has become a huge inconvenience as well as a violation to the people’s civil rights.
As a result of the 9/11 attack of the World Trade Center Buildings North and South, securities has rapidly increased procedures due to the many attempts of attacks made by terrorist. On December 22, 2001 a terrorist named Richard Reid hid an explosive in his shoe trying to detonate it, but fortunately he did not succeed (Elliott). After the incident, passengers were forced to walk through security after taking off their shoes/sneakers. On December 25, 2009 another terrorist named Umar Abdul Mutallab attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear, which then lead to people having to start carrying liquids in small container and concealed inside a plastic bag (Ryan).
Many have accused the government of going too far with airport security, and others including myself would easily be able to find multiple stories of falsely accused terrorists. For instance, consider the false accusation against Nick George. On August 29, 2009 Nick was going through security in the Philadelphia airport on his way back to college.