Per the WaPo:
Awais Sajjad, a lawful permanent U.S. resident living in the New York area, learned he was on the no-fly list in September 2012 after he tried to board a flight to Pakistan at John F. Kennedy International Airport and was turned back.
At the airport, FBI agents questioned Sajjad, a Muslim, before releasing him. But they later returned with an offer. In exchange for working for them, the FBI could provide him with U.S. citizenship and compensation. The FBI, the agents reminded Sajjad, also had the power to decide who was on the no-fly list.
In truth, not a lot more below the Fleur-de-Kos...
But if you ask my opinion I will say that this is not a total shock in the cultural and political environment of the advancing police state. Daily, we hear of malfeasance by one LEO or another, of some murder, scandal or other offense. The FBI was supposed to be, as flawed as it is, the "good guys".
“The no-fly list is supposed to be about ensuring aviation safety, but the FBI is using it to force innocent people to become informants,” said Ramzi Kassem, associate professor of law at the City University of New York. “The practice borders on extortion.”
What happens when other law enforcement begins to use similar tactics? Criminals getting out of prison are -at times- blackmailed by parole officers, but acting as an informant could get someone killed.
I hope this lawsuit works. The No-Fly list is no joke: It can inhibit you from making a living; it's not just people with too many hard consonants in their names; there are MANY anglo names and if you have the same name, you're screwed.
I hope someone can do a better diary than this on this subject.
Hunter? Meteor Blades? You guys there?