A couple of "lists" are being confused here, I believe. Somewhere, I'm on one. I'm sure it's not the no fly list, and I don't think it's the terrorist watch list. But every year when I return from Scotland (with a shotgun), I get pulled aside by Customs and Immigration for additional screening. Asked them why; they said because of my very common name. However, last year two different agents noted (apparently they keep track) that I'd been through the additional screening thing several times and they were going to remove me. I thanked them. We'll see if that actually happens this year.
Re the FBI and their contact with Mateen: The same thing happened with the older Tsarnaev brother (Boston Marathon bombing). In both cases, checked out and cleared by the Bureau. I've had people say "But if they're suspicious, shouldn't they continue to watch them?" At which point I ask them just how large they would like the FBI to become. Interesting that supposed supporters of smaller govt and less govt interference would adopt a view of "once on the FBI's radar screen, always on it". Of course they say that AFTER the individual in question commits a crime. "How come the FBI missed them?" Well . . . what if there was nothing to miss? Tsarnaev was interviewed and cleared something like 2 years before the marathon bombing; Mateen also some time ago. How long does it take for someone to watch ISIS videos or listen to a radical imam and decide to join the jihad? If you look at cases of terrorist attacks, not all that long. But if you want the FBI to look like the old Soviet KGB, then I agree: Let's keep watching them even after they're cleared. If "watching" involves physical surveillance, the number of people involved gets pretty large pretty darned quickly.
Last edited by L. Brown; 07/08/16 10:10 AM.
