Many have tried to pinpoint the exact moment or course of events that led to the Mutant Internment Act of 2004, but as with most events in history, there is no clear-cut path. Some say it was not until fighting broke out between mutants and human groups. Others say that something like the MIA was going to happen eventually. The effects of the Act however, would change the course of American history.
In 1986, the world at large first learned of the existence of Mutants when Max Eisenhardt, known as "Magneto", attacked the Statue of Liberty, toppling it into New York Harbor. He along with his group, known as the "Brotherhood" then launched an assault on the United Nations building, demanding that Magneto be recognized and seated in the General Assembly as an official representative of Mutantkind.
Attempts by police and military to retake the building were unsuccessful, the combined powers of the mutants proving to be more than a match. The stalemate lasted until a second team of mutants, the X-Men; this one led by Charles Xavier, arrived and counter attacked. Xavier's team was able to draw the Brotherhood out of the UN, allowing security to evacuate all personnel. In a battle that destroyed half the complex, the X-Men routed the Brotherhood, but was unable to apprehend them.
The fight however was not without casualties. While the Brotherhood was in retreat, Magneto threw a shard of metal into Xavier's spine. In one last spiteful gesture, Magneto exclaimed: "In the years to come I'll take much more from you Charles!" Despite comprehensive medical efforts, his injury was permanent, and he remains today a paraplegic.
In the aftermath of the attack public opinion was mixed, some pleading for restraint, some demanding that strong measures be taken to control the "Mutant Menace". For a period of time between 1986 and 1991, a subtle movement swept across the United States, what some likened to a sub-rosa hysteria, just under the nation's skin. Mostly occurring in cities, and mostly in the Bible Belt and Utah, individuals who were outed as mutants were subject to attacks on the street, and derided as freaks and monsters.
What came to be known as the "Mutant Panic", finally pushed legislators to construct laws concerning those who were born exhibiting the "X" gene. Charles Xavier, with his colleague Henry McCoy, made several attempts to reach peaceful resolutions with lawmakers, but with public fears in a fever, they made little success. In 1992, the first bill was passed, the "Mutant Registration Act", which forced Mutants to register their status, and it even allowed for blood drawn from newborns to be tested for the "X" gene. The move causes outrage in the Mutant community, sparking the famous Los Angeles riots in April of that year.
While the bill proved unpopular with civil and human rights groups, it was generally accepted by the American public. Sects of a newly formed Christian denomination, "The Church of Humanity" (CoH) began appearing throughout the South and Midwest, preaching the gospel that Mutants were a warning from God to repent and follow, or their own children would become the "spawn of the devil". This cult, led by Desert Storm veteran William Stryker, eventually generated its own, more violent offshoots.
In 1993, The Brotherhood attempts to bomb the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The plot however is prevented from causing maximum damage by the X-Men, in particular Piotr Rasputin, a recent immigrant from Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, who uses his strength to keep a crucial support pillar from giving way. When the 11-year old is asked why he would risk his life in a country that treats mutants so poorly, he replied: "Is still better than Russia". Remarking no doubt on the ruthless methods used by the former USSR in dealing with mutants.
The heroism, combined with Piotr's personal likeability ease tensions with the mutant community, and the process of normalizing relations begins in earnest. Charles Xavier and his X-Men become the public image of mutant kind, and his boarding school becomes inundated with applications from around the world. For a time the political climate in America shifts in their favor.
In 1995 however things take a tragic turn. At a Mutant Outreach Center in Oklahoma, one of several located throughout the country, a radical splinter group of the CoH; calling themselves "The Sapien League" detonates a truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The attack leaves 168 people dead, both mutant and non-mutant, including 19 children.
While the nation mourns the dead, Magneto's Brotherhood vows "Revenge 10 fold!" against those in league with the perpetrators, and the "complacent system that allowed them to fester." Over the course of the next several years, the Brotherhood ruthlessly hunts down members of the Sapien League across the United States; even going oversees to Baltic States where members had fled.
These same years also see mutant relations strained. The internet allows mutant youths to connect online, some groups exhibit sympathies for Magneto's terrorist group, and a desire to carry out his work. The late 90's are plagued by fears of a "Mutant Militia Movement" gaining traction, given mutants ability to strike at unprotected targets with little to no way to stop them. The CoH raises tensions even higher by stoking fears of a "Mutanic Panic".
The new rash of hysteria finally moves the US Government to create the "Mutant Response Division", as a subset of S.H.I.E.L.D. The MRD is tasked to deal with any and all outbreaks of mutant violence, and invested to use any means necessary in those efforts. At first they are effective in keeping the peace, and public incidents are positive, but their image soon turns into that of armored thugs.
In a catalyzing incident on November 21, 2000, a riot breaks out in San Francisco between a group of mutant teens and local gang members. MRD agents arrive on scene but as they attempt to restore order, the situation quickly turns into chaos. Shots are fired from somewhere in the fracas, and the MRD agents react in self-defense, returning fire. A young male mutant is apprehended by agents and hastily placed under arrest, despite an apparent wound to his leg.
A friend of his, a second-generation, Chinese-American girl named Jubilation Lee, rushed to his aid, defying the MRD agents' order to back away. In a struggle to remove her, the girl accidentally uses her special ability, and discharges a flurry of multi-colored sparks in the agents face. Reacting reflexively, the agent and his partner fire their weapons, and shoot Lee, killing her.
The event is captured on home video, and the footage is subsequently spread nation wide. The young X-Man also known as "Jubilee", was on holiday vacation to visit her family in the city, and the death of the innocent girl horrified the public, and severely stained the Mutant Response Division. Worse, the X-Men, distraught and angry over Jubilee's death withdraw from public relations, and cease talks with government officials. This pushes the US Government into a corner.
Faced with the growing public resentment, the unresponsiveness of Charles Xavier, and the likelihood of a reprisal attack by the Brotherhood, civil and military officials seek a new method to deal with the Mutant issue. They find one in inventor Bolivar Trask, of Trask Industries, and his proposed "Sentinel Program". During this time, amidst public protests and State legislatures forcing them out, the MRD withdraws from most operations.
The retaliation that the government fears come to life on September 11th, 2001. Magneto's Brotherhood, in a complex coordinated attack, hijacks three passenger airliners, and a ballistic missile. Each of the planes out of Logan Airport in Boston are occupied by William Stryker and members of the Church of Humanity, on their way to a convention in the World Trade Towers.
A member of the Brotherhood known as "Mystique", with the ability to disguise herself as other people, impersonates one of the pilots of American Airlines Flight 11. When the flight was already en-route, an unknown mutant teleported several other members of the Brotherhood aboard and hold the passengers hostage. At 08:46 am, Flight 11 crashes into the WTC North building, the Brotherhood agents transported to safety at the last moment.
At 09:03, United Airlines Flight 175, held in thrall by Magneto himself, is hurled into the South tower, incinerating all souls. A third plane however, hijacked by an unknown mutant en-route to Washington D.C. is crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. By coincidence, X-Men member Alex Summers, A.K.A. Havok, is on the flight, and attempts to wrest back control, but the fight causes the plane to lose altitude, and crash.
At 09:37 am, a ballistic missile is stolen from an undisclosed missile silo, by a portal manipulator, and the same-suspected teleporter. Together they transport the missile to Washington D.C., where Magneto launches it into the Pentagon, specifically the section housing the offices of the Mutant Response Division. Total casualty count for the day is approximated at 2,987, including the one mutant hijacker.
In the aftermath of the attacks, Magneto releases a video taking credit for the orchestration and execution of the attacks, citing the death of Jubilee and the MRD occupation of the island of Genosha, which had been established as a mutant haven. The video becomes grisly when Magneto reveals that he has taken William Stryker hostage, and after forcing the head of the CoH to inhale metallic particles, decapitates him.
In the following days, Charles Xavier issues a full statement renouncing Magneto, the Brotherhood, and the attacks, but the recent silence from the X-Men makes many suspicious. The pleas of Charles Xavier and Mutant spokespeople Henry McCoy and Moira Taggart go largely ignored as the American public demands the government take drastic measures to ensure such an attack never happening again.
Months later, Bolivar Trask unveils the 1st generation of his Sentinel automatons, standing 30-feet tall; they are capable of identifying and capturing mutants without the errors of human discretion. An impassioned American public jumps on the popularity bandwagon, motivating Trask Industries to create merchandise based on the machines. The X-Men issue a cautionary statement, a warning of unforeseen consequences. For the time being however, the support of the Sentinels continue to rise.
Two years later in 2003, Magneto's Brotherhood terrorist network faces it's downfall, with captured members being taken to government sites for internment and interrogation. In a desperate strike against the Sentinels, Magneto leads a raid on the manufacturing plant and razes the facility, disrupting Sentinel operations nationwide. While the attack is successful, it proves to be the final push that strident Anti-Mutant groups need to enact much harsher methods.
In early 2004, with the support of newly elected President Robert Kelly, Congress passes the Mutant Internment Act, which authorizes the Mutant Response Division and Sentinel Operations Management to pursue and capture any and all mutants, for relocation and confinement to housing camps in the Southwest, the effort is called Operation: Zero Tolerance.
On May 18th, a combined MRD-Sentinel operation raids the Xavier Institute, and captures dozens of mutants, with only a few escaping. Footage of the raid goes viral on the internet, and many people are stunned by the images of crying children being taken from their beds in the middle of the night. Charles Xavier and the remaining X-Men go into hiding, and evade government forces for weeks.
Two months later, in what many consider to be the climax to decades of turmoil and persecution, Xavier and his X-Men stage a counter-raid on the detention camps in an effort to free their comrades and all others. In a surprise to all, Magneto and the Brotherhood also strike the camp facility from the opposite side, but they are more intent on destruction than liberation. A three-way melee ensues, with the X-Men not only combating the security forces, but also trying to stop the Brotherhood from killing all in their path.
With chaos breaking out and a massacre all but certain, the Government authorizes SHIELD to send in their newly formed force, The Avengers. Led by WW2 hero Captain Steve Rogers, they order the MRD agents to evacuate and shut down the Sentinels. In a move that shocks the world, the Avengers join forces with Xavier's X-Men, and engage Magneto's Brotherhood in open combat.
In the end, the Brotherhood is defeated, and after almost 20 years of terrorizing the world, Magneto is captured and brought to justice. While Eisenhardt and his minions are remanded to SHIELD custody, the question remains about how to deal with the X-Men. After a long and volatile negotiation process, and the support of the Avengers, the X-Men are cleared of all wrongdoing. The detention camps are dismantled and Operation: Zero Tolerance is terminated, ending the era of mutant persecution.
Captain America himself heads the escort team to return the students to the Xavier Institute, which billionaire inventor Tony Stark, the Avenger Iron Man, offers to rebuild out of his own pocket. The transport goes without incident until they reach the school. A crowd of onlookers had gathered outside the gate of the Xavier Institute curious to see the group of now world famous young mutants.
While the children are being escorted inside, a member of the crowd throws as rock, attempting to hit someone. The stone however is deflected by Captain America, and all around are stopped in their tracks by the sound. In an instant that encapsulates the turn of mutant-human relations, a picture is taken which shows the moment Captain Rogers' shield is raised, and the red-haired teenage girl cowering behind its protection. The image of Captain America protecting Jean Grey becomes Time Magazine's cover of the year.