After Sept. 11, President George Bush spent billions of dollars improving a failing airport security system; the President wanted to stop all potentially harmful weapons from reaching planes. Billions of dollars have been squandered since Nathaniel Heatwole managed to carry weapons without any security stopping him from boarding the plane.

Heatwole, a college student in Baltimore, boarded various planes with illegal objects; he placed them in bags and easily walked past security officers. His bags had box cutters, matches, and molding clay that resembled plastic explosives. On two occasions, he slipped through inspectors and kept the items with him on the plane, and four times he left the bags in the bathrooms by the back.

That was in September, the bags he left on the plane were just found last Thursday. To further show the inept airport security, Heatwole sent an email to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA); everything that he did was to show the lack of safety in airports. Again, Heatwole sent this email in September, and the TSA read it for the first time last week.

Heatwole’s act act of civil disobedience was supposed to open people’s eyes and improve airport security. However, he is now on trial for bringing concealed weapons on planes. If convicted, he could face up to ten years in prison.

The government should not be attempting to send Heatwole to prison and making an example out of him; rather, they should thank him for showing how carelessly they were handling security.

To make up for the fact that illegal items were brought onto the planes and that TSA overlooked emails confessing the illegal actions, the government focuses all its attention on Heatwole. Yes, he used poor judgment, but he is not a criminal. He merely tried to expose the abysmal security in airports.

The government should take this as a sign that their security is weak. Security officials must admit they have made a mistake and work to make airports safer.