The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

No-Fly List Challenged

Aug 3, 2015

Last week, a federal judge ruled that the no-fly list was unconstitutional in the way that the U.S. implemented it against a Northern Virginia teenager four years ago.

After a trip abroad to see relatives and study Arabic in 2011, Gulet Mohamed was taken into custody in Kuwait and beaten and interrogated by authorities because he was on the U.S. no-fly list. He eventually made it back home to the United States and sued the government.

Meanwhile, Mohamed’s brother, Liban, a Northern Virginia cab driver, was added to the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list on the eve of a hearing in Gulet’s case.

Coincidence? Maybe.

Liban has since been detained in Somalia. In fact, U.S. authorities are negotiating under what circumstance he can come back to the U.S.

The government never admits its actions were wrong. But they spoke volumes when they added Gulet’s brother to the list: Don’t you dare challenge Homeland Security’s authority to violate your rights–or else.