*It happened to Muhammad Ali’s son … again. ☹ For the second time in a month, Muhammad Ali Jr. was detained by TSA authorities. He believes it’s because he’s a Muslim.
Attorney Chris Mancini said that Ali Jr. was detained for 20 minutes by TSA/Transportation Security Administration officials who wanted to check his ID and passport before he was allowed to board a flight home to Florida. Ironically Ali Jr. had been traveling with his mother on a trip to Washington to speak about a different experience with TSA officials in which he was detained for more than two hours in a Florida airport.
A spokeswoman for TSA acknowledged the agency confirmed Ali’s identity before he boarded his plane. But spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said Ali Jr. was also patted down because his jewelry set off a checkpoint scanner alarm.
Florida Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was on the same flight, tweeted a photo with Ali Jr. after he was allowed to board and wrote:
“On way home on DOMESTIC FLIGHT Muhammad Ali Jr. detained AGAIN … Religiously profiling son of ‘The Greatest’ will not make us safe.”
On way home on DOMESTIC FLIGHT Muhammad Ali Jr. detained AGAIN by @DHSgov. Religiously profiling son of ‘The Greatest’ will not make us safe pic.twitter.com/KO3IVnRFax
— D Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) March 10, 2017
Ali and his mother spoke to Congress about the need to put an end to racial profiling, specifically drawing from his recent experience with the TSA as an example of profiling in action.
“If it isn’t a Muslim ban, why did they ask about my religion?” he asked, referencing the fact that when he was detained, he was asked about his religion and also asked about where he received his name.
The forum itself was highly critical of the immigration policies that President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress has put forward.
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