Couple detained after forcing their way past airport security as they ran late for flight to Mexico
After being late to their flight, the couple attacked a staff member, officials from the Miami-Dade County Sheriff's Office said. The couple has been named as Rafael Seirafe-Novaes and Beatriz Rapoport De Campos Maia.
Seirafe-Novaes has been charged with resisting an officer without violence as well as trespassing. Meanwhile, Maia was charged with two counts of battery and trespassing.
According to the sheriff's office, during the altercation with staff, one of the suspects threw coffee in the face of one of the employees.
Footage from the incident shows a number of police vehicles on the tarmac next to American Flight 2494 shortly before the plane was due to take off. Roughly six deputies responded to the incident, NBC 6 South Florida reported.
An airport spokesperson confirmed to the local TV station that the person involved in the coffee incident was an American Airlines employee.
Maia and Seirafe-Novaes had missed their flight to Cancun when they tried to force their way onto the plane, according to CBS News Miami.
'Acts of violence are not tolerated by American Airlines and we are committed to working closely with law enforcement in their investigation,' the airline told the network.
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Fox News
2 days ago
- Fox News
Inside the shoe bomb plot that changed airport security and why the rule is now ending
After nearly two decades of shuffling barefoot through airport security lines, American travelers can finally leave their shoes on. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week ended one of the most visible post-9/11 security measures, a rule born following a failed act of terror in 2001, when a British national, Richard Reid, tried to ignite explosives hidden in his sneakers mid-flight. The attempted terror attack did not succeed, but it sparked a new era of airport screening that would see millions of passengers removing their shoes — until now. The policy's roots trace back to Dec. 22, 2001, when Reid, later dubbed the "Shoe Bomber," boarded American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. Hidden in his black high-top sneakers were plastic explosives and a makeshift detonator. Reid attempted to light a fuse with matches mid-flight but was subdued by passengers and flight crew. The incident exposed a vulnerability in aviation security systems, particularly their inability to detect non-metallic threats like PETN, the explosive used in Reid's shoes. Jeff Price, an aviation security expert and professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, noted that security machinery at the time could not detect the types of explosives Reid used. "As far as shoe removal, the policy, I'm sure a lot of people know by now, started back in 2006, when it really dates back to 2001, when Richard Reid tried to blow up an airplane with a shoe bomb," Price said. "But it wasn't until 2006 that the policy would be implemented to remove the shoes. And that was really because the technology at the time couldn't detect the types of explosives that he used or that were in use at the time." In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and Reid's failed bombing attempt, airport security procedures rapidly evolved, but technology lagged behind the threat. Price said that early metal detectors "had a hard time detecting anything at the floor level" and "could never detect explosives." Shoe removal became the human workaround for what machines couldn't yet do. "For a long time, the idea was: if we can't see it, we'll have people take it off," said Price, who was the former assistant security director at Denver International Airport. "So that stuck with us for a long time and technologies have changed quite a bit since then." According to Price, the change came following the wide-scale adoption of millimeter wave imaging scanners. The machines are capable of detecting not just metal but also ceramics, plastics, liquids, and explosives, from head to toe. "The new millimeter wave imaging machines that have been deployed to most airports do a great job of detecting explosives, liquids, ceramics, plastics and also metallic objects," Price said. "They're from head to toe. They're not without fault — no system is. Every system's got false positives, and it's going to occasionally miss things. So, there's no perfect system. The question becomes: is it perfect enough? Or is it good enough to at least deter and hopefully detect the sort of item?" Millimeter wave technology began replacing traditional metal detectors in the late 2000s, he explained. "The deployments of millimeter waves continued to replace magnetometers all the way up until 2023–2024," Price said. "They're still going on. I think there's been about seven to eight hundred of those deployed by now and its amazing technology." For the millions of passengers who've grown used to juggling shoes, bins, and boarding passes, the reversal may feel like overdue relief, and it's likely to help speed things up. "I think it will," Price said of the potential to shorten wait times. "It's almost inevitable that it will because it takes time to take off your shoes, put your shoes back on. We have to sit down to do it most of the time and depending on the kind of shoes you have, there's boots or dress shoes, those are harder to get on and off. So I think inevitably it's going to speed up those times." Price cautioned that convenience should never outweigh caution. "Security is always about balance. It's about a balance between efficiency and security. We still got to keep the system moving, but we still have to provide a level of security that keeps the public as secure as possible," he said. "We'll never get to 100% security, because to do so, we'd have to quit flying!" "But we want to get to a point where we've got a high enough level of detection and deterrence that we don't experience incidents — or, and it's kind of odd to say, we don't experience enough incidents that it really starts to affect the system." Price suspected that DHS weighed the lack of recent incidents involving shoes as part of the decision. "They're finding the majority of prohibited items in people's pockets, or they're in their backpacks or laptop bags, purses or something like that," he said. "We're not finding them on people's ankles and so forth. That might have been a factor in this decision." Yet he maintained that random screening should continue to play a critical role in keeping travelers and TSA vigilant. "Just to keep people honest," he said. And while some critics dismiss the original shoe rule as "security theater," Price points to the value of deterrence. "Anybody that is completely dedicated and wants to be successful will probably be able to do it," he said. "Just like if somebody wanted to break in your house, they're probably going to be able to do it no matter how many security measures you deploy." "The goal though, is to make that level of deterrence so high that they don't go to your house. That they go somewhere else and try their criminal or terrorist acts. And that's really the goal of any security system is 'not on my watch.' Out of my house." TSA turned a corner on the mandate to remove shoes during security, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announcing on Tuesday the immediate end of the shoe-off requirement. Noem made the announcement about the nearly 20-year policy while at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., in a press conference late Tuesday afternoon. "In those 20 years since that policy was put in place, our security technology has changed dramatically. It's evolved. TSA has changed," she said at the presser. "We have a multi-layered, whole-of-government approach now to security and to the environment that people anticipate and experience when they come into an airport that has been honed and it's been hardened." She added, "We took a hard look at how TSA does its business, how it does its screening processes, and what we do to make people safe, but also provide some hospitality as well." The announcement was made in an effort to "make screening easier for passengers, improve traveler satisfaction and will reduce wait times," according to a TSA press release. Some passengers may still be subject to a search of their shoes "if they get put into a different situation or need additional layers of screening." Noem said the removal of liquids, coats and belts are also being evaluated, declaring that "the Golden Age of America is here." Fox News Digital reached out to DHS and TSA.
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Boston Globe
The end of the shoe bomber's revenge
Three months after al-Qaeda highjacked planes and attacked the United States, Reid boarded an American Airlines flight in Paris bound for Miami. Hermis Moutardier, a flight attendant on the plane, caught Reid trying to light a match and reminded him there was no smoking. A few minutes later Moutardier returned to find Reid trying to light a fuse in one of his shoes. When Moutardier tried to intervene, he attacked her. Several other passengers jumped to her assistance and were able to subdue Reid. Advertisement Turns out between getting his shoes wet in the rain before boarding the flight, and his foot perspiration, Reid couldn't light the fuse before he was overpowered. The flight was diverted to Logan International Airport, and Reid eventually pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston. During his sentencing, Reid tried to justify his actions by claiming he was 'a soldier of God' under the command of Osama bin Laden, but US District Court Judge William Young was having none of it. 'You are not a soldier in any army, you are a terrorist,' Young told Reid. 'To call you a solider gives you far too much stature.' Young pointed to the American flag in the courtroom. 'You see that flag, Mr. Reid?' Young said. 'That is the flag of the United States of America. That flag will be here long after you are forgotten.' Advertisement Young sentenced Reid, dubbed 'the shoe bomber,' to the maximum, three life sentences, with 110 years on top, and no possibility of parole. And, yes, it would have been nice to forget Richard Reid forever, but that was difficult because for the last 19 years every time someone boarded a flight in the United States, the shoe bomber was able to virtually exact a tiny bit of revenge. Five years after Reid's futile attempt to blow up an airplane full of people, the TSA, the federal Transportation Security Administration, began ordering passengers to take off their shoes for screening. You might ask, if the government really believed that scores of terrorists were lined up at airports with their Nikes stuffed with C-4, why did it take five years to implement the requirement to take off your shoes? But that would suggest the people who implemented the take-your-shoes-off requirement, and maintained it for two decades, were operating on a plane that was based on evidence and logic. The absurdity of the shoes-off policy was exposed by TSA's own policies of allowing you to buy your way out of it, or avoid it based on your age. Since 2011, passengers who are 75 years old or older and those 12 or younger did not have to remove shoes at security checkpoints. Since 2013, passengers who pay for the TSA PreCheck program can breeze through the screening process without removing shoes, belts or light jackets. Best money I ever spent. Applying the logic that gave us the shoes-off policy in the first place, what would stop a terrorist from using some kid or an old lady as a mule to ferry explosives on board? Or from paying 80 bucks to buy into the TSA PreCheck program? Advertisement Logic and common sense were never intimately involved with the shoes-off policy, especially in more recent years. On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced 'Ending the 'Shoes-Off' policy is the latest effort DHS is implementing to modernize and enhance traveler experience across our nation's airports,' she said. 'We expect this change will drastically decrease passenger wait times at our TSA checkpoints, leading to a more pleasant and efficient passenger experience.' It is tempting to ascribe the current regime's decision to ditch the shoes-off requirement to the stopped clock theory. But, remember, a stopped clock is correct twice a day, and Noem is not even remotely close to achieving that metric. At least she did not elect to make the announcement against the backdrop of shoeless detainees in some far-flung prison. For that, and for the privilege of keeping our shoes on, we should be thankful. Credit where credit is due. Thanks Secretary Noem. For the last 22 years, Richard Reid has been a guest of the nation at the Supermax prison in Colorado, where one day he will die. And that flag is still standing in Judge Young's courtroom. Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
TSA's shoe removal policy is over. Here's why it started in 2006.
For years, travelers have been forced to awkwardly remove their shoes in the airport security line, a policy that dates back to a failed, decades-old terrorism plot. The rule just changed with a big announcement from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who ended the Transportation Security Administration's shoe removal policy on July 8. The changes, she said, will go into effect immediately in airports across the country. The shoe removal rule was first implemented in 2006, but its origin dates back to a 2001 'shoe bomber' plot aboard an American Airlines flight. What happened in the 'shoe bomber' plot? On Dec. 22, 2001, just four months after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, a man named Richard Reid boarded American Airlines Flight 63, from Paris to Miami, with 10 ounces of explosives in his shoe. Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft laid out the harrowing tale of events during a 2002 press conference announcing indictments against Reid. As the flight soared thousands of feet above the Atlantic Ocean, Ashcroft said a flight attendant confronted Reid when she saw him adjusting a wire protruding from his shoe. Reid attacked her and other passengers leapt into action. One man restrained Reid's arm, while another took hold of his legs. Other passengers took off Reid's shoe and tied him to the chair using belts they collected from around the cabin. Then, a doctor onboard sedated Reid. The plane made an emergency landing at Boston's Logan International Airport, where Massachusetts State Police arrested Reid. Upon inspection, FBI agents discovered the shoe contained enough explosives to have blown a hole in the plane's fuselage. If the shoe had detonated, the FBI said the plane would have crashed. Who was Richard Reid and what happened to him? Law enforcement officers later discovered Reid had received training in Afghanistan by al-Qaeda, the organization headed by Osama bin Laden that also planned the Sept. 11 attacks. Reid pled guilty in Oct. 2002 to eight criminal counts related to terrorism. During the court hearing, he admitted his allegiance to bin Laden and said he was 'at war' with the United States over its treatment of Muslims. 'Your government has sponsored the rape and torture of Muslims in the prisons of Egypt and Turkey and Syria and Jordan with their money and with their weapons. I don't know, see what I done as being equal to rape and to torture, or to the deaths of the two million children in Iraq,' Reid said at the time. 'So, for this reason, I think I ought not apologize for my actions. I am at war with your country.' Reid was sentenced in 2003 to life in prison and a $2 million fine. The Department of Justice later found that Reid acted with others in his plot. They charged Saajid Mohammed Badat with plotting to blow up an aircraft. Badat later became an informant against other terrorists, the BBC reported. Why TSA started making people remove their shoes TSA implemented the no shoe rule in 2006. It required all passengers between the ages of 12 and 75 to remove their footwear and put it on the scanner, along with carry on bags and other miscellaneous items. As time went on, fewer people became subject to the rule. The TSA Precheck Trusted Traveler program, which began in 2013, allowed users to keep their shoes on at checkpoints, among other perks. As of August 2024, the program enrolled 20 million people, according to the agency. 'Everything the TSA does and requires of travelers has always been necessary, but they have advanced over the years,' Noem said on July 8. 'We have made advancements in how we screen individuals.' Contributing: Zach Wichter, USA TODAY
