In the immediate post-9/11 era, the fledgling TSA did spot checks at the gate, and it was SOP that the schlub who was first in line got the full treatment. And since they didn't have portable x-ray machines and metal detectors, they opened your carry on and pawed through everything.
The airlines would frequently assist in the harassment by flagging passengers whose checkin presented some kind of anomaly. I usually use a passport for identification, and I lost track of the number of times I was targeted for supplementary screening because I had some visas in my passport in Arabic.
Fortunately, they don't do that any more.
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