Man on ‘no-fly’ list receives school bus driver’s license

MINNEAPOLIS — A man who is on the Homeland Security “no-fly” list received a license allowing him to drive a school bus, WCCO reports.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said it has no legal reason to deny the license to Amir Meshal, who already has a commercial truck driver’s license, according to the news source. Meshal obtained a commercial truck driver’s license on Aug. 3, and received the school bus driver’s license on Sept. 9, after he passed a background check. The state cannot disqualify applicants who pass a background check and do not have any disqualifying offenses, WCCO reports.

Meshal has been under the scrutiny of federal authorities for possible activities related to helping recruit young people to terror groups, was banned from a local mosque in 2014, and was also placed on a U.S. government “no-fly” list, according to the news source. State Rep. Brian Johnson told WCCO that the state needs to look into how someone on the “no-fly” list can get a state license to drive a bus or a truck, and questioned whether proper background checks are being conducted. Additionally, Gov. Mark Dayton told the news source he will ask the Legislature to review the law next year.

Meshal, who is an American citizen, has never been charged with a crime and said he has never been told why his name is on the “no-fly” list, WCCO reports. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the government, arguing that it gathered information from Meshal using torture, according to the news source. The ACLU also said Meshal was detained for more than four months in 2006 and interrogated more than 30 times in three different countries by U.S. officials after he traveled to Somalia to study Islam, according to WCCO.

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