8-Year-Old Boy Scout Mikey Hicks On Terror Watch List While Underwear Bomber Skates Through
Photo: Mikey Hicks, 8.
He's also an 8-year-old cub scout who attends parochial school in Clifton, N.J., and has been receiving the third degree from airport security since he was 2-years-old.
"A terrorist can blow his underwear up and they don't catch him. But my 8-year-old can't walk through security without being frisked," his mother, Najlah Hicks, told
That's because Mikey Hicks shares a name with someone who appears to be among some 13,500 on the large "selectee" list, which sets off a high level of security screening. The list apparently does not specify age or gender.
Photo: Alleged "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Najla Hicks, a photojournalist who was once cleared to fly with Vice President Al Gore, said the family was amused by the mistake at first but that quickly wore off and seven years later they are still trying to clear it up.
"I understand the need for security," she added, "But this is ridiculous. It's quite clear that he is 8 years old, and while he may have terroristic tendencies at home, he does not have those on a plane."