Current Events > Can someone explain why the TSA was all over my shoes?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Had a pair of black dress shoes in my luggage. They took them out and wiped it with some piece of paper and then put the paper in a machine. Then they put the shoes in the X-ray machine by themselves. What could have been so suspicious about them? And what were they testing for?
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The 2001 shoe bomb attempt was a failed bombing attempt that occurred on December 22, 2001, on American Airlines Flight 63. The aircraft, a Boeing 767-300 with 197 passengers and crew aboard, was flying from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, United States.

The perpetrator, Richard Reid, was subdued by passengers after unsuccessfully attempting to detonate plastic explosives concealed within his shoes. The flight was diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston, under escort by American jet fighters, and safely landed without further incident. Reid was arrested and eventually sentenced to 3 life terms plus 110 years without parole.
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They occasionally do random tests to waste time and make it look like they're being effective
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they probably found some suspicious residue on them.

last time I flew, they found something on my hands and took me to the side, and wiped my hands with this kind of paper, and let me go a few moments later
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Funny enough last time I flew I was still a smoker and they gave me back my lighter and cigarettes with 0 issues.