He was discharged from the Air Force for pro-Osama statements. Then he got a job as…an airport screener. But of course, what he said was taken out of context. From AP, :
DETROIT (AP) — A Yemeni immigrant who was discharged from the U.S. Air Force after expressing sympathy for Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11 attacks faces trial next week on accusations of lying to land a job as an airport screener.
Sadeq Naji Ahmed, 25, of Dearborn faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of making false statements on a questionnaire to get a job with the Transportation Security Administration at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
“This is a case of vast government overkill,” defense lawyer William Swor said Thursday after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman declined to dismiss the indictment. “My client is an absolutely loyal American.”
Following his arraignment in July, Ahmed told reporters “people take things out of context, that’s not the right information.”…
The indictment said that Ahmed made statements in support of bin Laden, that he was neither for or against the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, that the United States deserved to be attacked, that he would not fight if the U.S. military took action in Iraq and that U.S. aircraft flying over Iraq should crash.
On Sept. 17, 2001, superiors suspended his access to classified information and secure areas of the base, the indictment said. He was reassigned to administrative duties and honorably discharged 11 days later, two months shy of completing his 4-year tour.
He returned to Detroit and got a job in December 2001 as a baggage screener for a private contractor at Detroit Metro. In October 2002, he was conditionally appointed to the Transportation Security Administration contingent upon passing a background check, which included filling out a questionnaire.
He was dismissed in August 2003 after the government learned about his Air Force discharge.
Swor said his client “was simply exercising his First Amendment right to question and criticize the policies of the U.S. government. The military and the government didn’t like his point of view, and they’ve charged him with a felony that could ruin the rest of his life.”