19 members of the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and an attempted attack on the White House in the United States. Turning the US focus from Communism to Terrorism which ultimately defined the presidency of George W. Bush. These acts, many of which were controversial, called for heightened security, racial profiling, and more. The Patriot Act of 2001, for instance, granted broad police authority to the federal, state, and local government to interdict, prosecute, and convict suspected terrorists.