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can help you. Mr. Shinwari understood the agents were suggesting that, in exchange for
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agreeing to become an informant, they would remove him from the No Fly List. Despite
being mired in financial difficulties and wanting to be removed from the No Fly List, Mr.
Shinwari would not agree to become an informant. He told the agents that he believed
becoming an informant would put his family in danger. Mr. Shinwari also told the agents
that if he had any knowledge about dangerous individuals, he would report that to the FBI
and did not need any financial incentives to do so.
162. Following this encounter, Mr. Shinwari contacted counsel in Omaha for help in getting
off of the No Fly List. On or about March 21, 2012, Mr. Shinwari and his counsel met
with Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun and Assistant Special Agent in Charge James
C. Langenberg at the FBI s Omaha Division.
163. Agents Dun and Langenberg began the meeting by asking Mr. Shinwari to think about
the reasons why he may have been placed on a watch list. Mr. Shinwari said that he did
not know. The agents then asked Mr. Shinwari about videos of religious sermons that he
had watched on the internet. Mr. Shinwari responded that he watched the videos to
educate himself about his faith.
164. Following this line of questioning, Agents Dun and Langenberg refused to confirm or
deny his No Fly List status but told him that he could potentially get a one-time waiver to
travel in an emergency. Mr. Shinwari believed the agents offered him the waiver in
exchange for all of the information he had provided them about himself. Mr. Shinwari
believed the offer of a waiver was provided as a reward for his agreement to submit to
questioning and to encourage him to provide more information.
165. On March 18, 2013, Mr. Shinwari sent Agent Langenberg an e-mail asking about whether
he could obtain a waiver to fly to Afghanistan. Agent Langenberg never replied.
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166. Mr. Shinwari was not and is not a known or suspected terrorist or a potential or actual
threat to civil aviation. The Special Agents who dealt with Mr. Shinwari had no basis to
believe that Mr. Shinwari was a known or suspected terrorist or potential or actual
threat to civil aviation. Had Mr. Shinwari actually presented a threat to aviation safety,
Agents Michael LNU and John Doe #6 would not, and could not, have offered to remove
Mr. Shinwari from the List merely in exchange for his willingness to become an
informant. Yet, knowing that Mr. Shinwari was wrongfully placed on the No Fly List, the
Special Agents who interacted with Mr. Shinwari kept him on the No Fly List in order to
retaliate against Mr. Shinwari s exercise of his constitutionally protected rights and to
coerce him into becoming an informant.
167. Mr. Shinwari filed a TRIP complaint on February 26, 2012. DHS responded to Mr.
Shinwari s TRIP complaint almost fifteen months later in a letter dated June 4, 2013. The
letter did not confirm that Mr. Shinwari was on the No Fly List, nor did it offer any
justification for Mr. Shinwari s placement on the No Fly List. The letter stated, in part,
that no changes or corrections are warranted at this time.
168. Mr. Shinwari filed a second TRIP complaint on December 9, 2013. DHS responded to
Mr. Shinwari s TRIP complaint in a letter dated December 24, 2013. The letter stated, in
part, that Mr. Shinwari s experience was most likely caused by a misidentification
against a government record or by random selection, and that the United States
government had made updates to its records. The DHS letter did not state whether Mr.
Shinwari had been removed from the No Fly List or whether he would now be permitted
to board flights. DHS s letter offered no clarification on whether he had been granted a
temporary waiver permitting his travel on only a single occasion.
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169. On March 19, 2014, for the first time since returning to the United States from Kabul,
Afghanistan in March 2012, Mr. Shinwari was able to board a flight, and he flew from
Hartford, Connecticut to Omaha, Nebraska and returned on March 31. This is the first
time Mr. Shinwari had attempted to fly since being denied a boarding pass on March 11,
2012. Mr. Shinwari does not know whether he remains on the No Fly List and he fears
further harassment and retaliation by government agents. Absent confirmation that he
has been removed from the No Fly List, Mr. Shinwari believes that his name remains on
it.
170. Mr. Shinwari s placement on the No Fly List prevented him from visiting his wife,
grandparents, uncle and extended family in Afghanistan since February 2012, causing
him great personal distress and emotional trauma. Mr. Shinwari s placement on the List
also made it difficult for him to travel to Virginia to visit his father, who suffers from
heart disease. Finally, his placement on the No Fly List prevented Mr. Shinwari from
obtaining employment in Orlando.
171. Mr. Shinwari suffered economic loss because of his placement on the No Fly List,
including but not limited to the loss of expected employment income from his job in
Orlando, and approximately $4,000 in expenses and fees related to the purchase of airline
tickets and booking of hotel rooms. In addition, because of the harassment and retaliation
he has suffered at the hands of government agents, Mr. Shinwari is reluctant to attend
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