You probably won’t see this one on MSNBC. Or if you do, it’ll be to say the “no fly list” turned this poor man to terrorism. Nonetheless, MSNBC a few years ago highlighted the terrible plight of Saadiq Long. He became the poster child for opposing the “no fly list.”
“MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Glenn Greenwald, and Mother Jones” covered Saadiq Long’s sob story and he was represented by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Well, he has just been arrested in Turkey as part of an ISIS cell.
Long’s cause got international attention when Glenn Greenwald published an article at The Guardian saying that Long was “effectively exiled from his own country.” Kevin Drum of Mother Jones branded it the “Kafkaesque World of the No-Fly List.” CAIR has 22 article entries related to Long’s case on its website.
After several months of wrangling between his CAIR attorneys and the Department of Homeland Security, Long was temporarily removed from the no-fly list and allowed to return to Oklahoma.
Once home, however, he was still subject to FBI surveillance according to claims he made during a press conference with his CAIR handlers.
After an incident with local police and the FBI, Long was apparently placed back on the no-fly list, preventing his return to Qatar.
I guarantee you that if the media that championed his cause covers this story now, and the odds are slim that they will, they will cover it claiming that being on the No Fly List turned this man to ISIS as his only resort.
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