FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla._Muhammad Ali Jr., son of the late legendary heavyweight fighter, said Friday he was "red flagged" and prevented from boarding a flight to Fort Lauderdale.
He said the incident happened as he was preparing to board a JetBlue flight from Washington, D.C., to Fort Lauderdale. He was returning from an appearance on Thursday in the nation's capital where he was describing a Feb. 7 incident during which he said he was detained when returning to the U.S. from Jamaica.
The latest incident was announced to the world on Twitter by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who was returning to South Florida on the same flight Friday afternoon.
"I got harassed again," Ali said in a telephone interview. "They had a 'red flag' on my flight. They said I wasn't able to get on until I talked to homeland security." He said he offered his state identification, which he was told wasn't acceptable. "Luckily I had a passport so they let me on the plane."
He said the JetBlue agent in Washington used the term "red flag." He said he was delayed for about 25 minutes while he spoke on the phone with someone from "homeland security," but didn't specify more precisely what federal government agency he said he spoke with.
"He (the ticket agent) put me on the phone with homeland security. They asked me questions," he said. He said one question was where he was born.
"And then they let me get my flight," he said. "I don't see why I have to do that just to get on the plane. And another thing. I'm not out of the country. I'm in the United States."
A spokeswoman for JetBlue referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security. A Homeland Security spokesman didn't have any immediate comment late Friday afternoon. He said the agency was "looking into these reports."
