A painter on the George Washington Bridge turns out to be a guy on terror watch lists. From WCBS-TV New York, with thanks to Kemaste:
NEW YORK (CBS) A routine traffic stop leads to the arrest of a terror watch list suspect in our area. What’s more, CBS 2 has learned 39-year-old Sami Ibrahim Isa Ardel Hadi had a valid I.D. to work as a painter on the George Washington Bridge.
Hadi was arrested yesterday afternoon by Bergen County Police, say sources, on Route 46 by Ridgefield Park. He was stopped for tailgating.
When the officer called-in the North Carolina plates of Hadi’s car, the Bergen County Police report indicates the officer was told Hadi was on several federal agency terror watch lists, and there was a stop and hold order on him.
The police report also says that Hadi had a valid temporary I.D. to work on the George Washington Bridge. He works for L & L Painting, the subcontractor painting the bridge….
PBA officials added, “What scares us is that workers on the Port Authority’s bridges and tunnels have no security background checks.
They say they’ve complained about this since 9/11.
But those to whom they complained were probably more concerned about looking as if they were profiling than, oh, national security or anything that trivial.