Locked In with Ian Bick - The FBI Arrested My Father After 9/11 – I Became an Intelligence Agent to Clear My Family's Name | Khalid Abdulqaadir

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

Khalid Abdulqaadir was just a kid when the FBI stormed his home and arrested his father in the wake of 9/11. Branded as a national security threat, his family’s life was turned upside down. Determined to prove his father’s innocence, Khalid took an unbelievable path—becoming an intelligence agent himself. This is the mind-blowing story of government surveillance, a wrongful arrest, and the fight for justice from the inside. #FBIArrest #9/11Aftermath #TrueStory #GovernmentSecrets #SurvivorStory #SystemicInjustice #PoliticalScandal #civilrights Thank you to LUCY & SHADY RAYS for sponsoring today’s episode: Lucy: Let’s level up your nicotine routine with Lucy.  Go to HTTP://LUCY.CO/IANBICK and use promo code (IANBICK) to get 20% off your first order. Lucy has a 30-day refund policy if you change your mind.  Shady Rays: Get 35% off polarized glasses at shadyrays.com - code LOCKEDIN Connect with Khalid Abdulqaadir: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/khalid_abdulqaadir/profilecard/?igsh=MW1lbDM2d3dwcDgzbA== Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://convictclothing.net/collections/convict-clothing-x-ian-bick Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction and Background of the Guest 00:06:00 Struggles of Balancing Faith and Crime 00:12:11 Journey from St. Louis to Kansas City: A Family Reflection 00:19:09 Growing Up with an Unknown Famous Father 00:24:53 Witnessing the 9/11 Attacks on TV 00:31:01 Encounter with the FBI: A Personal Experience 00:37:51 Post-9/11 FBI Interactions 00:43:52 Traumatic Raid Experience 00:50:41 Undercover Pressure: Wearing a Wire 00:56:39 Joining the Military Under Suspicion 01:03:13 Military Racial Profiling and Detainment 01:09:37 Encounter with Military Authority and Double Agent Concerns 01:15:17 Intense Polygraph Experience and Legal Concerns 01:22:26 Impact of the Patriot Act on Civil Rights 01:28:13 Fighting Allegations and Seeking Clearance 01:34:38 Transition from Intelligence Career to Filmmaking Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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We love to see it. I'm happy to be here, man. Thank you. I appreciate the invite. Of course. How did you find the podcast? You know, I saw something you did a while ago, man. And I can't remember exactly when it was, but I figured you were going to ask the question.

But I think I saw the podcast you did with Danny Koppel. Oh, that was the one you saw. Yeah, I think that was one of the earlier ones I seen because I follow him. Child to Danny Collins. Yeah, he's great. Yeah, he's a good. He has a different interesting perspective. Yes, he does.

Yes, he does. I saw that and then that's when I kind of did some research on what you were doing. I thought it was interesting, man. Well, I appreciate you reaching out, man. That's what it's all about. Yeah. So where are you from? Where did you grow up?

So I'm from Wichita, Kansas. That's where I was born at. but I spent most of my childhood in St. Louis, Missouri. Okay. What was that like growing up? Was that like a small town vibe? Well, you know, Wichita is a small town. I don't know, man.

Wichita, Kansas, it's cattle country, man. It's, you know, it is what it is. It's like you're on flat ground and then suddenly you're in a small town somewhere. But Wichita is one of the biggest cities in Kansas population-wise and maybe area-wise, I believe. But I left Wichita when I was pretty young, like two or three years old, and then moved to St. Louis. Who did you grow up with? Who were you raised by?

My dad. Just your dad? Yeah, yeah. So my mother, she was diagnosed with cancer. I think maybe when I was maybe one or two years old, maybe one years old, because she fought it for a while, went through chemo, did all that. And she ended up dying when I was three. And so we actually, we buried our mother, like in Islamic tradition. The children bury their parents.

So the hole was dug. My dad and the other people who were at the funeral, they, like, lowered myself and my other three brothers down into the grave. And then, like, handed us her body. We put her down there. You know what I mean? And then they pulled us out and we, you know, put it. a little bit of dirt in the hole. And then that was it.

Yeah, it was like very ritualistic, but, you know, not a lot of people could say that they stood in their mother's grave, you know what I mean? Yeah. Wow, that's interesting. Well, I'm sorry for your loss. I know it was a long time ago. It's life, man, you know. And how many siblings did you have?

Three. So myself, three older brothers. I was the youngest. You were the youngest. Yeah. Was that hard growing up the youngest? Not really. I think my brother.

brothers and I, we've all had really good relationships. You know, obviously we fight and do all that stuff. But for the most part, we've had good relationships. You know what I mean? So it wasn't that or, no, I wouldn't say. All, before we jump more into today's episode, I need your help. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. And great news, you can now comment on Spotify episodes too.

So drop a comment and a review and let me know what you think of the episode. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, a rating and review goes a long way in helping us grow. Also, quick shout out to Shady Raise. They are giving out their best deal of the season exclusively for Locked In listeners. Had to ShadyRase.com and use code Lockton to get 35% off polarized sunglasses. We will talk more about them later in the episode. Hope you enjoy. Was it hard on your dad raising all of you?

as a single father? That's a good question, man. I don't think so. You know, my father was like very much into living his life, you know, and I don't think that having children

was something that he was afraid of, you know what I mean? So I wouldn't say it was difficult for him. But the two oldest boys, they had different fathers. So when my mother died, like when we left the grave site, when we got home, the child services people were there, and they took my two oldest brothers away and took them to their families.

Yeah, so my dad only raised myself and my brother Muhammad. That was his choice to have them removed? He didn't have a choice in it. Oh, that's an interesting. So someone must have reported that she passed or something? Yeah. Yeah, and so Yeah, man, it was wild

Well, I think he had I think he did have a choice He could have He could have denied it or whatever Because he had custody But I think I think he chose to do that Because the fathers were reaching out to him

And he was a father So I guess You know And you know Two less kids raised You know what I mean Being honest What was your dad's background

Was he born in the U.S.? How did he grow up? Yeah, so my dad was born in St. Louis. His birth name was Melvin Latimore. So my dad actually changed his name and changed my name in 1989. I think he had always dabbled with the idea of being Muslim, but he didn't really get serious about it until after my mother died. You know what I mean?

So, but yeah, he was born in St. Louis. He's been a, he's been a criminal since birth. You know what I mean? And he's always been, like, battling, having one foot in the mosque, you know, trying to struggle to hold onto his faith and then, you know, his extracurricular activity. Did you know if your mom wanted you guys to grow up religious or not? because you said he changed your name after her death? Yeah, I think she did.

I heard a lot of stories that my mom was interested in the Islamic faith. But, you know, I don't know for certain. But I think she was kind of leaning that way, and I think he had kind of dabbled in a different sect of Islam at a different point. And so they just kind of met in the middle. kind of, I guess. You know, my dad in the 60s and 70s, he got involved with the Black Panthers and the nation of Islam.

And then, you know, he saw the transition that Malcolm X made after he took the pilgrimage to Mecca. And so he kind of moved in a similar way where he left like the nation Islam style of Islam and then moved more towards the Sunni, Sunni Muslim style or practice. Did he have a job at all? Like an actual normal job while you were growing up or was it just? A couple times.

A couple times he did. He worked for AT&T. He was actually AT&T in Kansas City when AT&T split to AT&T in Southwestern bail and he got sent to Atlanta to work there as part of Southwestern Bell at some point. he was actually really good.

I still have, like, his evaluations. I have a lot of, like, actual documents from AT&T when he worked there. So I have proof that this man was good at, you know, regular jobs and stuff like that. But I also know that he was really effective at AT&T because he acted as like a conduit to the underworld. You know, he, you know, executives would come in. or whoever, you know, you know, this was the 80s. This was when parties were good, you know what I'm saying?

And so he was able to supply things, you know, for the festivities and all kinds of things. And so, yeah, so I think that that kind of helped him, you know what I mean? But, you know, he would have like these periods. He would fluctuate where, you know, he would be engaged in, like, criminal activity. He would fall into a lull of, like, doing drugs. Then all of a sudden he would, like, start a business. And then he would become a strict Muslim.

You know, wearing the thob, the turban, everything. And, like, those four cycles is kind of like what he did throughout my lifetime. When did you realize his criminal lifestyle? Like, how old were you when you kind of put pieces together? or you knew that your dad was not a normal dad? I didn't, it was from day one. Like, I heard a lot of stories about him growing up, you know, from uncles and stuff like that. You know, you hear stories about your family and you're like, yeah, whatever, you know, you don't really believe it.

But then as you do get older and you get a chance to be around other people who knew your family and stuff like that. And then they tell you kind of similar stories. then that's where you kind of put two and two together. But when did I really, really confirm it? I confirmed it when I tried to get his military discharge overturned because he had a dishonorable discharge. He was in the military. Yeah, he got, I think he, so he,

he had a criminal charge and then had an option to join the military. You know, they used to do stuff like that. And so he joined the military in the 60s, Vietnam. And then he got to Colorado. He did basic training somewhere, and then he ended up in Colorado. And then the military report stopped. It says that basically he went AWOL and then he just never showed up again. And so after like two or three years, I think they finally gave him a discernible discharge.

Well, he was in prison in Colorado. for armed robbery. And he did four years and some change as a result of that. And the Army had no idea where he was at. Oh, wow. So how old were you when you tried to get that removed off his record?

This wasn't too long ago. This was probably it's been like maybe 15 years ago. It actually wasn't that long ago. So how old were you when your dad left your life or came out of your life? Did something happen? Yeah. So the first thing, time I left. When I turned 16, I moved out of my dad's house. I went to live with my aunt

because he was in one of those periods where he was, you know, doing drugs and, um, or involved in drugs and doing whatever he was, whatever else he was involved in. He just wouldn't be home for days, you know, the only way I could eat was if I was, you know, if I go to school. And so I went and, um, actually my own. oldest brother, who I mentioned earlier, who had went on to his family after my mother died, he was getting married. And so I came from St. Louis to Kansas City to the wedding, and I saw like how stable he was and my aunt, you know, my mom's older sister. And like they were living like an actual family. You know what I mean? I was living in the Cochland Gardens housing

projects in St. Louis. And I was walking from Tenth and Cass to Broadway where there was a white castle across the street from the Bush Stadium. And that walk there and back every day, I was getting beat up, I was getting robbed. It was crazy, you know, because I had my white castle uniform on, and it just wasn't good. But when I saw how my family was doing it in Kansas City, I just, I wanted that. And so I left. And I think me leaving that time, for him was a wake-up call because my older brother had left two years prior. They had a very extreme incident between each other. And so then he went back into one of these Islamic cycles. He moved to Norman, Oklahoma, and probably got as deep into Islam as I've ever seen

him. And so my senior year, he comes back to me and he's like, I want you to move with me in Norman, Oklahoma. And I'm like, I ain't doing it. And so he's like, we'll come down to Norman, check it out for three days. And if you like it, you come back and live with me. And if you don't, you can stay where you at. So I was like, all right, three days, no problem. And he knew exactly what he was doing. The first place he took me was to the football stadium. And, you know, Oklahoma, Texas football is very different than anywhere else in the country. And so I wanted to play football in college. So when I saw that huge stadium and stuff in high school, that was all I needed. So I moved to Oklahoma. And this was 99. And I want to say the first time that I went to the monster,

in Norman, Oklahoma, me and my dad are sitting on the floor. This guy walks in. I knew this guy as Shaquille. That's what I knew his name to be. And my dad was like, you see that guy right there? And I was like, yeah. He said, stay away from him because he's an FBI agent. Yeah.

An undercover FBI agent in the mosque? Yeah. So that's what he told me. And in 1999, he said that Shaquil was an FBI agent. and I should steer clear of Shaquille. Did you question why your dad even knew that or why he would even be interested in that? No, no.

You know, by this time, my dad had already had, we had already been dealing with the FBI since I was about 12. So in 1993, the World Trade Center bombing happened, the first one. and I can't remember exactly what the issue was, but the FBI did come to our house, and they detained my dad for a short period of time. And, you know, it's something that I could look it up

and read about it and read exactly what the issue was, but they definitely believed that he was connected in some way to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Did you believe he? he was? No. That was number one. Number two was the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. There was a book came out. It was called like the third terrorist or something like that. And again, you can look all this stuff up. My dad's name is Mujahit Manepta. You type his name in Google. You can read all of it. Someone claimed that they saw him like at the same hotel as

Timmy D. McVeigh. You know what I mean? which is all right because McVeigh was a, you know, he wasn't the type of guy who might be hanging out with my dad, you know what I mean? So when he, when he would tell me that, you know, this guy's the FBI agent, I believed him, you know. And this is also after my dad had established a mosque in St. Louis before I left him, left home the first time on the north side of St. Louis. and, you know, we knew that there was an FBI presence around that mosque as well, you know what I mean?

So, you know, him and a group of other convict black guys, you know, who had all became Sunni Muslim, my grandmother fronted the money that my dad needed to purchase. just this four family flat, north side of St. Louis. And he made the lower level a mosque. And then we lived up above it. And then there were two other guys

and their families that lived in the other two units. And that mosque is still there today. It's still there today. Yeah. Thanks to Shady Ray's for supporting Locked In. If you're looking for sunglasses that are stylish, durable, and built for every adventure,

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Shout out to Shady Ray's for sponsoring today's episode. Make sure you grab your pair. And hey, even send me a picture and you rock in your new pair Shady Ray's. Now let's get back into today's episode. Did people that you went to school with, your friends look at you differently because of who your dad was? Or was that not really known because there wasn't necessarily like social media or major? I mean, the internet was kind of just beginning at that time, right? Yeah.

So what was kind of the word on the street and how did people treat you towards that, your association? Most people didn't know anything about my dad. In fact, when I was in high school in St. Louis, I was in the desegregation program. So I lived in the city at desegregation in the 90s. I lived in the city, but I was bused to the suburbs. And so most of the people had never seen my dad, never heard of him. He didn't come to a lot of our games and stuff like that. And one of my football coaches used to joke, he used to be like, how's the master doing?

You know what I'm saying? They called him the master, you know. But for the most part, nobody knew anything about my dad, not until 9-11. you know, where it all blew up, basically. So did you find it weird, before we get to that, do you find it weird that the FBI was coming to visit your dad just as a young kid who doesn't know anything about the world or maybe even too much about religion or what was happening?

Did you find that weird at all? Or did you just think that was normal? By then, you know, that's a good question. I guess I did think it was it was normal because, you know, it had happened several times. You know, we were able to point out wires and stuff like that, you know. And so, yeah, I guess it was kind of, it was normal. Like wire tapping? Yeah.

Or like bugs in your house? Yeah. Wow. So they were really looking into your dad seriously. Yes. But up until that time, no charges. He's never been, like, actually indicted or anything like that. Up until then, there were no charges.

It was just surveillance. Okay. So then take us through what happens after that? So this guy is Shaquille, who I told you about earlier. Shaquil and another guy from the mosque named Hussein Alataz. They end up going to Minnesota. and I don't remember exactly what the reason they went or whatever, I just know what's been said afterwards.

The word is that Musawe asked Hussein to drive him to Minnesota to go to some flight school or something. Like there was some flight simulator up there that I guess he couldn't find in Oklahoma or whatever. and Musawe had made a comment to the instructor that he only wanted to learn how to fly the plane. He didn't care about the landing modules. And so the instructor thought that that was strange. And so, you know, he called the FBI.

And the FBI actually detained Musawe in August. So a month before 9-11 happened. And that's actually when I learned that his name was Zacharias Musawe. And not Shaquil. And Zacharias Musawee is known as the 20th hijacker, and he's the only person alive who's currently charged with the crime of 9-11. So he wasn't even an FBI agent? Well...

Where did that come from? You know... Was that a code word? No, so here's the thing, man. I trust my dad's intuition. You know what I mean? And the way, and I'm not trying to be a conspiracy theorist or anything like that.

But I do have one of the only 9-11 insider stories there is, you know. You lived that. Yeah. And this is what it looks like to me. And this is also me speaking from after years later, when I got into these communities and I started to understand how they function and stuff like that.

The way he was removed out of the environment, a month before 9-11 happened, to me it looked like an extraction. You know what I mean? It looked like somebody who was there to do something and then whatever the timeline was for that activity, once the timeline was near or the timeline had concluded,

then he was extracted. And then there's a story, and then, you know, it goes away or they go away, right? That's what it looked like to me. You know what I mean? So to this day, I can't confirm what exactly Musawi was.

But would I say, honestly, that he was the 20th hijacker? I would say no. So 9-11 happens. How old are you? So 9-11 happened exactly one week after my 18th birthday. What's going on in your mind once you're starting to gather information? What happens with your dad?

How does this all get pieced together? The morning of 9-11, my dad comes in my room. He tells me, come look at the TV. This was odd, you know what I mean? So, you know, I get out of bed, go in the living room. He's sitting on the couch. I look at the TV. There's a building, you know, smoldering on fire.

And so I'm sitting down, looking at it, and it's like, yeah, a plane just struck the Twin Towers. So I'm like, damn, you know, one of the pilots must have been drinking or something. You know, you hear about that kind of stuff happening. And while I'm thinking that, the second plane hits. And so it's like, it's indescribable, you know, to see it. I don't know if you saw it. Did you actually? I was too young to kind of.

Oh, yeah, man. I'd be forgetting. I'd be forgetting. My bad. I think I was in third, second, third, maybe fourth grade. I think it was in private school at the maybe fourth grade. I just remember them, you know, calling, looking at the clock, all of that. And now I see the videos years later because we didn't have TVs.

I don't think of the classroom to really show that. Yeah. So now I see all the videos on, like, TikTok. and, you know, around the anniversary and stuff. Yeah, man. And the movies, of course, I portrayed it as well. Right. So, you know, just imagine seeing that, like, for the first time, live.

You know what I mean? It's just an indescribable. It's indescribable. You know, there's, like, no emotion because it's just too much to take in. But anyway, my dad stands up, and he's like, he's like, it's a hit. You know what I mean? And I'm like, well, I'm like, What are you talking about?

And he's already down the hallway into his bedroom. And I'm still looking at the TV like, man, what the... Can we curse on here? Yeah. What the fuck is going on? You know what I'm saying? And so he comes back down the hall and he's got on the full Islamic shit. And he's like, let's go to the mosque.

And I think by then there was already a suggestion that this was Islamic terrorism. I don't remember exactly when they started saying it was bin Laden. But I do know that they were, they showed footage. And I've argued this shit down with the FBI. And they claim, I'm like, no, I was there. I saw it. My dad responded to it. I'm not making this shit up.

There was footage of, like, Arab people. I don't remember where they were exactly. Burning an American flag. And the news commentator was like, they're celebrating the attacks or whatever. So it was already angling towards this being an Islamic related incident, Islamic extremism. And so my dad was like, let's go to the mosque because, you know, he already knows. We're in Oklahoma.

You know what I mean? And I was like, wait a man, wait a minute, wait a minute. Like, first of all, I don't think we should go to the mosque because this is Oklahoma. And second of all, we definitely shouldn't go dress like that. You know what I'm saying? Let's put some jeans on, man, you know? And he was like, no, fuck that. We go into the mosque or whatever.

Man, I'm going to tell you, I swear on my mother's soul. When I went to my room and I sat down on my bed, I had to like prepare myself for death. You know what I'm saying? Because I felt deep down in my heart, I felt like we were going to get to the mosque. There were going to be people there angry. And my dad wasn't going to be having it. And then something was going to happen.

And then we were just going to end up dead. And I was just hoping that however it came, I just didn't want it to be painful. You know what I mean? and then I you know we got in the car and started heading towards the mosque and it seemed like every light was green it was like every light was green it was I still remember what it felt like that drive is you know out of our apartment there was like one main street all the way down to where the mosque was and the mosque was actually right down the street from the inner section where the Oklahoma University football stadium is. You know what I'm saying? I think it's like Lindsay and Jenkins. I think are the two streets.

And yeah, man, we got to the mosque and there was a mob. You know what I mean? KC. lights, pickup trucks and beer bellies. They was out there ready to go. And we pulled up. And the only people in that parking lot, besides me and my dad,

were other black men who all were also convicts. You know what I'm saying? All the Arab guys, the Middle Eastern guys, they were nowhere to be found. You know what I'm saying? And so we just took turns standing in the parking lot while half of the people would pray and then they would switch. As security, you guys were protecting the mosque?

Yeah. Because we figured, you know, they were going to start vandalizing, you know what I'm saying? Which they did. They tore the mosque up, man. Bosted out all the windows, ripped the sign down, all that kind of stuff. You know what I'm saying? So we came into contact with the FBI probably that day. day, I believe it was.

Like that evening, the FBI was at the door. You know what I'm saying? My dad, welcome him in. You know, he was almost excited. You know, they come in. We sit down at the kitchen table. And this was interesting. I got to learn a lot about, like, FBI tactics during this time.

Now, take in mind that this was an unprecedented event. And the Patriot Act was. it was being developed. And I think it dropped in October the next month. So the FBI were still trying to figure out how exactly to approach the situation. And so I got to watch some of their tactics. This is hindsight.

At the time, I didn't know what the fuck was going on. But now I can see what they were doing. And, you know, they would send different FBI agents at us. So the first guys we showed up were these, you know, classic, you know, Terminator 500 motherfuckers,

you know what I'm saying? These dudes who've been feds for 30, 40 years. And, you know, they're trying to talk to us about what we understand is going on. The questions, you know, if anybody's talked to the feds, you know how it is.

Kind of ambiguous questions. You know what I'm saying? This and that. They just, you know, trying to figure out what the deal is. But as soon as my dad would get a chance, then he'd be like, now, y'all want to talk about some real terrorism. Let me tell you about 400 years of terrorism. They start talking about slavery and shit.

I'm like, oh, my God, we're going to jail. And so then they would switch it up. You know, when he started talking this, you know, this black history stuff, the next time the feds came, one of them was a Native American guy. And he was like, I understand where you're coming from, you know? So they try that way.

And then another time, it'd be, you know, an attractive young white woman with a short skirt on, you know what I'm saying? Like, it was like, they were, they were like probing us, you know what I'm saying? Just to try to get information of his relationship to the attack? Yeah. And the community. Yeah.

Yeah. And so, you know, we told the FBI everything we understood about that situation. We even talked about Shaquil, who's now Musawe now. We told him, man, you know, yeah, the dude was on some, he was on some bullshit. My dad, my dad had, like, threatened this dude, threatened to beat him up at least one occasion. that I know of because he used to criticize me a lot for playing football in high school. You know, this was my senior year. I moved down to Norman as a senior.

This is a huge football program. And I came down there and I took the starting running back position at this huge high school. You know what I'm saying? So I was insanely popular, bro. Like, just insane. You know what I'm saying? And don't get me wrong, I was living like a double life. So some of the shit he used to criticize me on, he was, you know, he's kind of right.

Because during the daytime, you know, I was at the mosque. I was doing all the stuff. But at nighttime, you know, I'm doing everything. You're being a kid. Yeah. Yeah. A senior high school American kid who's the star running back, you know what I mean? what those kids will be doing.

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And here comes to fine print. Lucy products are only for adults of legal age, and every order is age verified. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Now let's get back into today's episode. Did those kids know about your religion and your associations or no? Somewhat, man. You know, there were other kids in the high school who also went to the mosque.

You know what I'm saying? And they were from Yemen. There were some kids from Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and stuff like that. that. And it was an interesting dynamic for me to be in that environment in Oklahoma and be who I was. But then like, so on one hand, you know, my girlfriend is a cheerleader. You know what saying? I'm doing all the regular stuff. But then this Arab dude who I know from the mosque would come down the hallway and he's like

yeah I like slo-a-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-ra we hug each other and then you know in the Middle Eastern culture you know the men they often hold hands

you know when they walk they do shit that we don't do here you know what I mean and so you know I wasn't never like like no

we can't do this kind of stuff in here I was doing whatever the fuck I want it so I was showing people that I was in with this

culture, but also, you know, the running back and doing all that shit as well. Nobody ever had a problem with that. You know what I mean? Which singing back, I guess, was kind of unique. But, yeah, I never heard anything, any issue with it. But that all changes after 9-11 happens. Yeah, yeah. So my dad and I, we're talking with the FBI practically every day for a month, 9-11 to October 10th.

And on October 10th, which was interesting because my dad told me, don't talk to anybody about nothing, especially no reporters. And I mean, I used to wake up in the morning, there'd be a British guy with a British accent from the BBC, like knocking on my bedroom window. You know what I mean? Trying to get me or us to talk to him about something. And so, but on October 10th, my dad decides to do a news segment. And, you know, the news show up.

I don't know why he agreed to it. And on TV live, he says probably for the first time by anybody in America, at least on national TV or TV, he says that he believes that 9-11 was an inside job. and he says that Muslims are going to be scapegoated for this and, you know, all this other stuff. So he did that at probably 3 o'clock in the afternoon. And by that night, this is when our relationship with the FBI and the country changes. So we had already. been experiencing things you know what I mean um and by this time I had actually been attacked

once I got jumped by some people I don't even know who they were and so my dad he uh you know he arms himself or us the house I mean we had you know AK 47s and shotgun and shotguns at every window, you know what I mean? Like just leaning on the window. And so the night of October 10th, I'm still up. I don't even remember why I was a, it was a high intense period. You know what I'm saying? I think I've probably, I don't even remember going to sleep during this whole month.

I was watching this movie and it was like, it was a family man with Nicholas Cage. I remember exactly what it was. And remember how we had the old TV boxes. They used to sit on top of the TV. Yeah. The TV box, it was like 129 in the morning. And when it clicked to 130, as soon as it clicked, it was a knock.

You know what I'm saying? At the door. And so I go and I look through the peephole and what I saw the peephole was, it looked like it was an FBI agent. He had a suit on. And then there were two local cops from Oklahoma. I don't remember they were, I don't think they were normal.

I think they were state police. And even the way they're showing up, I'm not, I'm not computing, you know what I mean? Like I would now. But when I opened the door, those people who I saw through the people, they were gone. And what was in front of me were two rows of men, double stacked, full level three, assault armor gear on, you know, the SWAT team basically. And they raided us, you know what I'm saying? And I used to wear my keys on the lanyard around my neck.

And the reason I don't ever do that, again, is because the first guy who came in, when he put me on the ground, he was using my lanyard to, like, choke me to get me to get my hands behind my back. You know what I'm saying? And so they hog-tied me, you know what I mean? And they took me in the kitchen. put me on the kitchen chair and then, you know, they just carried my dad out of the house, you know, like four dudes just got him and he's just gone.

You know what I'm saying? And I don't see him for almost two years after that. So I'm sitting at the table and, you know, people are moving, they're people moving around. around the house and everything like that. By this time I'm just crying and stuff. And then a guy comes in like a fucking Texas Ranger motherfucker. He's got a hat on, you know, like the cowboy hat, with the button up, with a blazer, with the jeans on,

you know, with the cowboy boots and shit. I think he was a U.S. Marshal. Yeah, that probably is right. Yeah. And he comes in with a folder. He blam, he slams this folder on the, the table and he sits down. He opens up.

He's real aggressive. And he opens it up, man. Flips through some pages. And then he's showing me pictures of the motherfuckers who flew the planes into the building. And he's like, how many times have you met these people? How do you know them, this and that?

You know what I'm saying? And when I realized that that these dudes are connecting me to, to this shit, I fucking lost it, man. If it felt like my body had, had like unraveled. You know what I'm saying? Bro, I peed, like, I lost total control of my bodily functions, everything.

It was another moment, you know, it gives me chills right now even thinking about it. Because, you know, I'm 18 years old. And, man, I, it was, like, it was worse than, uh, than the feeling like you're about to die. You know what I'm saying? It was worse than that. It's like, like literally, man, like, like an eggshell. It's like somebody's taking your, your body at the top of your head and just crack, just cracking you open. And I was unable to, uh, function at that point.

and man you know he like scoots back from the table and shit because I'm pissing bro you know what I'm saying you know he's telling you know saying something to some guy they grab me

they carry me into the into the bathroom and shit and they just put me in the bathroom and they're just standing by the door and shit and I don't even know like what the fuck I'm supposed to do and so I just sat there you know on the front of the front of the front of floor leaning up against the bathtub.

I'm pissed myself. I'm just crying and shit. You know, still cuffed and everything. And they, um, they ransacked the house. I could see people going past the door with boxes and shit. And that went on for about three hours. Then they came in the bathroom. They took the cuffs and stuff off me.

And, uh, they were like, you know, we'll be in touch. And then they left. you know what I'm saying? And so, yeah, bro, it's fucking, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's really hard to, uh, to re-imagine that. But, um, I remember I, I laid on that, that bathroom floor, man, like, I don't know, probably the whole fucking day. I, I was scared to go out the, uh, the bathroom. Like, it felt like if I walked out the bathroom door, you know what I'm saying?

I felt like something was going to happen to me. And I didn't even, like, go out of the bathroom. But got myself together. I came out and started trying to figure out what exactly had just happened. You know what I'm saying? My dad is gone. Shit is flipped around. Everything's missing.

All the guns are gone. You know what I'm saying? And the fucking door was fucked up. The front door. I don't remember how that happened. I thought I opened the door. I don't remember, like, the top thing getting damaged. But I wasn't even able to, like, close the door.

You know what I'm saying? So, you know, the shit was fucking... It was just, man, it was unbelievable, man. How long did it take to figure out what happened to your dad and what he was being charged with or where they took him? To figure all that out took probably almost two years. By the time I figured out what exactly happened that day, I was already in the military, which we can get to that.

But so, you know, that's when, you know, they put my dad on TV and then it all came out. You know what I'm saying? Like, oh, we think his dad is involved, blah, blah, blah. So, and then, you know, I went from being like this popular dude in high school, whatever, this football player and all that stuff like that, to like a pariah. You know what I'm saying? Like indescribable ostracization, being ostracized, however you say it. Where nobody wanted me anywhere near them.

You know what I'm saying? And I spent about three days or so before I realized I was like, damn, you know, I was. I haven't even, like, reached out to my girlfriend or nothing yet. You know what I'm saying? So I drove to her house. And, like, as soon as I, in the driveway put a foot out of my car, she said her dad was at the door, you know, and this is a man that, you know, we were good.

You know what I'm saying? He was at the front door with a shotgun. And he was like, you know. He's like, I love you, buddy, but. I don't know. You just can't be around here. Got by getting the car left. And so,

so then the FBI started to, they started to try to get me to wear wires. So they wanted me to, to be a confidential informant. And so they started coming, you know, picking me up every day and trying to coerce me to do this. And we went through a period

I think maybe a week or so of this daily pressure that they were putting on me, man. And they were, you know, they would start to like shut your life down. My life was already being shut down. But, you know, I tried to go to school. They came and got me out of class. You know, I would, you know, so, you know, they were like boxing me in, isolating me, so I would agree to do what they wanted me to do. And the last conversation I had about being a confidence or informant,

I'm in this suburban wherever the fuck it was. I'm in the backseat in the middle. By the time they were tired of me because I kept refusing to do the shit, you know what I'm saying? I'm in the middle of the backseat. I got a FBI agent here, FBI is here, one driving and one in the passenger seat. And it's like even though the guy is driving, it seemed like all four of them are looking at me and shit. And they're yelling at me and they're like, we're not asking you to buy a fucking stolen vehicle.

You know what I'm saying? Like, they just want me to wear a fucking wire. They're going to direct me where to go, who to talk to. And they just want me to, like, try to get information. So finally, after like a week of that, I, agreed to do it. I said, all right. So they were like, good. Then they got all chill and everything. They drove me back home. And they were like, we'll be here tomorrow morning to get started. We'll pick you up at 6 a.m. I got out of the car. And at like 2 o'clock that morning,

I skipped town. I got the fuck out of there. You know what I'm saying? I ran. I ran. I drove up into Wichita One of those four brothers The second oldest He was living in Wichita at the time And You know This was when I started to realize

That the feds are not really that good You know what I'm saying We watch a lot of TV and stuff like that But they're actually They were actually not very good I fucking shook I shook the shit out of the face. They didn't know where the fuck I was.

They had no idea about my relationship to my two older brothers because they had different dads. And you remember I told you they had been sent away after my mom died? So as far as they knew, it was just me and my brother, Muhammad. Who, by the way, while this is happening, Muhammad is having one of the best seasons in college football history at Coffeyville Community College. he's like breaking 30-year-old records he's got Barry Sanders showing up to his football games

this dude is getting letters from 10 out of the top 25 college football programs in the country you know what I'm saying and so I go into Wichita I hang with my brother in Wichita

for about a week you know I don't Don't hear anything from the feds. And then I continue on up in the Kansas City where my aunt lives, right? My mother's oldest sister. And I'm with her for a few months. And everything's just like a haze, man.

It felt like I would just like laying the bed when the sun came up and then the sun would go down and I would just still be in the bed. You know what I'm saying? And everything was going through my mind, man. I thought about killing myself I just didn't I just didn't understand how this shit was going to end

I just didn't want it to hurt you know what I'm gonna be dead just don't be painful but I I thought that at some point I'm just be dead and there's nothing I'm gonna be able to do about it and nobody's gonna know

shit about me or whatever and it's just what happens and so my aunt she comes home one day and she's like pale, man. You know what I'm saying?

Like terrified. And she's telling me that the FBI had reached out to her at work, at her job, looking for me. And she lied to him. You know what I'm saying? And so I was like,

I got to go because I didn't want to bring any of that on her. And so I left the house. I spent some time, you know what I'm saying, where I was a little homeless, you know. I was, you know, sleeping behind the gas station and shit. You know what I'm saying? And the strip mall where this gas station was, there was a military recruiter station. And I saw some young people about my age coming in and out of there.

They had some white styrofoam plates. They had some food and shit. And I was hungry. I was very hungry. And then at this time, I'm like, you know what? Fuck it, man. I'm just turn myself in. You know, I'm 18.

I don't fully understand who the FBI is, but I know they're not cops. I know that I'm not dealing with a city cop. You know what I'm saying? So I didn't feel like I could just go to the police. police station, but I've figured that these military dudes, if I gave them my information, somehow somebody would show up. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking, but I went in there and I'm just eating, you know what I'm saying, and I don't care anymore.

And I'm like, yeah, you know, I want you join the military. Here's my information. and I thought that they're going to put my shit into a computer and hit enter or something, make a call or something, and then somebody's going to show up, and then it's going to be over. But it didn't happen. They took my information down. Nobody showed up.

A couple days later, I went back to my aunt's house. I told her what I was going to do. You know, she didn't understand what I was doing. like this don't make no sense how is you know how you're going to come from that situation and then join the military

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You know what I'm saying? That came later. That, you know, I ended up joining the military. And again, at each moment, I'm thinking the feds are going to be here at some point. When they took me to the hotel to get ready to fly out the next morning and go to boot camp, I thought at the hotel, the fed's going to be there. They wasn't there. I'm like, okay, when I get to the airport, the fed's going to be there.

We get to the airport, feds ain't there. We fly to Chicago. I'm like, okay, fed's going to be here. They weren't there. We get to boot camp. No feds, no feds, no feds. So I go through boot camp and the feds never showed up. So they didn't put you on a no-fly list, a terrorist watch list.

They never associated you with that. So, you know, Homeland Security was in the process of being developed. And these agencies actually were not communicating with each other, you know. And I was an 18-year-old kid. So I suppose the feds wasn't thinking like we got to send his name to the Department of the Defense. You know what I mean? So I entered the fucking military, bro, and they had no idea, you know? So you could have been associated and got into there.

Not that you would have been at a high level because they would have figured it out by that point. But in that early stage, you would have technically been an active service member with a gun, everything like that. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And that's why I said they're not as good as. It was different times back then.

Different times. I don't think that would happen right now if there was an attack, say, to the thing. day and then, you know. Yeah. Wow. Well, and then, you know, the Patriot Act made it all legal. So I also had no legal recourse. You know what I'm saying?

Was your other brother going through the same hate that you were? Did he, like, get canceled essentially on the football field? Yes. Yes. And I always consider my brother's situation to be one of the real tragedies of this story. You know, again, you can look him up. Muhammad Abdul Qadir. What he did in college football was,

it's been, you know, he's done things on the football field that nobody else has done. And once the news came out of who my dad was or whatever this and that, he goes from being like one of the number one recruited players out of junior college to like not getting any college offers.

You know what I'm saying? Not Division 3, not NAA, no lower level shit. He didn't get anything. And the only reason he went to a four-year university after Coffeyville was because a coach

that had coached him at Coffeyville took a job at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. And when he saw that Muhammad didn't go to any big program.

He drove and he picked Muhammad up and drove him to SIU and was like, man, just play here. And he went down there and made the all-century team. You know what I'm saying? In two years. You know? And so you know, he was going to

his thinking was that he was like, man, I'm going to make it to the NFL. and, you know, I'm going to save everybody. And that's what he was doing. You know what I'm saying? And that's how he was playing. You know, he was playing football like...

His life depended on it. Like his life depended on it, man. You know what I'm saying? And, yeah, so he thought he was going to go, you know? And he first entered the draft, the NFL draft, in 2004. Oh, he was able to get that far. Yeah. Wow.

Yep. He went undrafted, but the New York Giants brought him in the training camp. And two days after he arrived, they were like, you got to get the fuck out here. No explanation, nothing. They were just like, deuces. And then after that, like, he was unable to, he never touched the, well, he played. played United Indoor League a little bit after that, but that was pretty much the end of his football career.

And you think that was directly related to his relationship with your dad? Yeah. So ESPN did a little short thing on him on ESPN, E60. They did a little short piece on my brother. And again, people can make the argument that he wasn't good enough to play in NFL. Okay. But what you can't make the argument. argument is that he wasn't good enough to play college football.

You know what I'm saying? The dude was a Walter Payton runner up two years in a row, you know, which is the Heisman trophy of D1A. And when he would play against D1A teams, I hate to throw Eastern Michigan out, you know what I'm saying, under the bus. But with a D1A program playing against a D1A team, Eastern Michigan, bro, he even hitting these motherfuckers for 340 yards. 340 yards against a D1A program.

And you don't even get a, you know, you don't even get like a practice squad, not, you know what I'm saying? So the way he was treated in college is all the proof that I need to know that that shit totally fucked up his entire life. Now, when you were enlisted, how are the, in boot camp, like when you first joined, how are those soldiers treating you? Just in general, given everything that happened after 9-11, or were they not treating you badly because you were there among their ranks with them? So they're probably figuring this guy can't be associated with anything.

Well, by this time, I wasn't divulging anything. No, I didn't know if they based it on your race or your, you're, you. your religion or anything like that, what that stigma was? No. I didn't have no issues like that. Because I know people were profiling individuals based on their religion and their race at that time. So I don't know if they did that in the military when you joined. Those things definitely happened in the military, but they happened because the FBI and now

NCIS, the Naval Criminal Investigational Service, they then detained me again. again in the military. How long into your enlistment was that? About 18 months. Wow, it took them 18 months to find you and talk to you. And here's the thing. They found me because I told them who I was. The military, like your commanders or whatever?

I told NCIS. Okay. So dig this. The war in Iraq kicks off. And again, this is another. a mind-blown moment for me because I'm like, oh, fuck. You know what I'm saying? Like 9-11 happens.

I joined the military. Now I'm in the military. And then, you know, now there's a potential I can go to war. And I'm going to be going to war against, like, Muslims and stuff. But then I really started to feel like, you know what? Yeah, this is, this is some, you know what I'm saying? Those motherfuckers fucked my whole life up. And so I'm going to go get some payback.

So I was ready to go wherever. Let's go, you know. And, you know, it, it was like a, it was like a, it was like a movie, man. It really was. We got called to this big auditorium and the highest ranking individual. I can't remember if it was a captain or whatever. He gives us the we're going to war speech. You know what I'm saying?

And I'm like all the way in the back of the room, like, you know, taking this all in. Like, fuck. As I'm doing that, I look over and I see two white guys walk into the auditorium with suits on. They're obviously not like what I'm used to see in the military. And again, that dread hit me, bro. I was like, fuck. But then I was like, finally, they arrived. I thought it was the FBI.

You know what I'm saying? They get targeted to some people. You know, one of my. higher-ups or whatever, and they're looking around and, like, pointing me out. And I just start walking over. I'm like, well, it finally happened. I was waiting for it to happen. And now here it is.

I walk over to these guys, and they're like, hey, Khalid, how you doing? You know, like, I'm doing all right. You know what I'm saying? Like, okay, where we're going? They're like, yeah, just take a ride with us. And I'm like, all right, here we go. We go get in the car. We're driving.

They're offering me Gatorade and shit. And I'm like, no, I don't want anything. Like, I'm just waiting to hear, like, how I'm about to be dead. You know what I'm saying? And we get to the, it's the NCIS building we go to. And so I'm like, oh, okay. So I don't know anything about NCIS. And so they take me in this room and stuff.

And they're real nice. And I'm just waiting. I'm like, okay, like, come on now. Drop the hammer, y'all. And they're giving me They give me like a print A copy sheet of paper Of

It was a copy of a newspaper In Arabic And they're asking me Am I able to Am I able to tell anything Can I discern any information from this document? You know I could read a little bit of Arabic You know what I'm saying? I'm like

Yeah you know this looks like this It looks like a newspaper ad this looks like it's for some a cleaning supplier or some shit like that. They're like, all right. And then they give me a little pair of headphones and they got a tape recorder and they played something I'm listening to it. And it's like, again,

it's some, um, some advertisements in Arabic. And so I tell them whatever pieces I can understand. And they're like, okay. And they kind of look at each other. They're like, well, we want to we want to offer you an opportunity. And what the opportunity was,

they wanted me to, they wanted me to be a spy. They wanted me to befriend other Muslims in the military and help NCIS monitor them and, you know, gather information. And I was like,

that's what this is about? And they were like, yeah. Nothing else? They had no fucking idea who I was that I had been on the run from the FBI. They had no fucking idea.

So I told them which was probably stupid or maybe it was smart. You know what I don't know? Well, it was smart because I'm here. But I told them I would do it. But I wanted that shit to be my primary role in the military

and all this other shit I was doing in the military. that I didn't want to do, because I didn't really have an interest in joining the military in the first place. All the other shit that I'm doing, that stuff is secondary. And then I broke down to them the whole story about my dad, the FBI, all that shit. And these dudes were turning red because what they had just realized was that they had just potentially offered a double agent, a double agent position. You know what I'm saying? Which would make me like the first quadruper agent. I just got to say that.

You know. So they were very upset with themselves, you know. And so they were like, all right, well, you know, we'll be in touch and all this shit like that. And so I was like, all right. They let me go. And then, man, it still took, it took a couple months before they jumped down on me again. FBI, NCIS. And then they, you know, then they did their usual thing.

You know, I was a corpsman, which is like a medic. And so I work in a hospital. And then if a Marine Corps unit deploys, I would deploy with that Marine Corps unit as their embedded medical augmentation. So 2004 comes around. I'm on my way to work. I live right off the base. I'm driving the base.

I worked a night shift in the hospital. My brother calls me, Muhammad. He's in St. Louis. I'm in California. I'm on Camp Pendleton. He's like, hey, man. I was driving down the street. A lady pull up next to me at a stoplight.

She said it was something hanging off the bottom of my car. So he pulls over, and he's like, I pulled a fucking bomb off of my car. I'm like, a bomb? I'm like, send me pictures of it. you know, phones wasn't that good, but that was what we had back then. So he could text me pictures of this device that he pulled out from under his car. And I'm looking at this shit while I'm driving.

I'm like, man, what the fuck is that? So I pull over on the side of the road, on the military base. I get out of my car and I look under the bottom of my car in the back where he said his device was. And sure enough, I have a device on my car as well. Mine was more sophisticated than what he did. That shit he had looked like a pipe bomb. You know what I'm saying? And if you watch the ESPN documentary, it's on YouTube,

he typed my brother's name, man, Muhammad Abdul Qadir. ESPN took a picture of the picture that he took of the device. You know what I'm saying? And it looks like a pipe bomb. But it was a tracking device. Oh, okay. So I pull this device out. It's magnetized to my frame.

And I pull it out. It's got a huge square black box with these strong magnets on the back of it with a wire and it's connected to a smaller box that has an antenna on it. You know what I'm saying? So I pull that thing out. I drive to the hospital. I go into my lieutenant's office. and, you know, she's just, she's a nurse, lieutenant. She doesn't know anything about this shit.

I throw that thing on the table and I sit down and I'm like, I'm not leaving this room until y'all figure out what the fuck that is. You know what I'm saying? And, man, after like five hours, a guy from NCIS shows up. And by now the base commander, the security commander, is also in the office with myself and the lieutenant. The NCIS guy walks in, he's got his suit on.

Hey, hey, how you doing? Shake some hands or whatever. He doesn't look at me, he doesn't say anything. He's like, is this the device? And they're like, yeah. He picks the device up with the leaves. He just grabs it and just walks out of the room. And I'm like, y'all going to let him walk out with the,

they don't know what the fuck to do. I don't know what the fuck to do. So anyway, he retrieved the device. And so that morning, because I worked at night shift, when I came out of the building, you know, then it was, they pulled up on me, you know, both sides, hard screeches. They get out, you know, throw you in the car, they go. So they take me to the NCIS building again.

And now this time, I have an FBI agent on this side of the table and an NCIS agent on this side of the table. And the difference now is that they read me the uniform code of military justice, the UCMJ, the section about high treason in the military during time of war. And the penalty for that being a death penalty. And so here I am again Like about to crumble in the pieces and shit I didn't piss this time But You know

Here I am again in the situation So they fly in a specialist from Washington D.C. He's a polygraph examiner And they put me through Polygraph examinations From 8 o'clock in the morning to like 5.30 in the afternoon.

Like a full-time job. You know what I'm saying? And I was sweating so hard through these exams that I could fill a cup up with my shirt if I took my shirt off and rang it out. That's how bad I was sweating. You know what I mean?

And we would run through these questions. You know, like, did you have any knowledge of 9-11? Did you fund any? any aspect of 9-11 have you ever trained with the purpose of overthrown the U.S. government like some heavy shit

that I was going to be potentially put to death for if they had found out if their polygraph tests said that I was whoever they said I was. I would do one polygraph test they would put me outside then they would come out

and they'd be like all that one was inconclusive we got to do it again and then we come back in there and do it again but the questions would change. They were writing on new questions. We do that. They put me outside.

They were like, oh, that one was inconclusive too, man. We don't know what's going on. We got to do it again. They bring me back in. Questions change again. And when I understand now, that shit is illegal. You know what I'm saying? It's illegal.

And I was reaching a state of exhaustion that could have gave like a false positive. You know what I'm saying? So again, stuff I know now, I didn't know that. But finally, after like the third exam, they were like, all right, motherfucker, we'll be in touch. You know what I'm saying? So at this point, my roommate at the time was training to go to the Navy SEAL training. And he is a Navy SEAL today.

You know, or, you know, he's not active anymore, but he made it through the training. And so I just started working out with him because that was the only way I could just kind of, you know, deal with what I was dealing with. The exercise helped, you know. And so I was doing the Navy Sill training. And I got really, really good at it. I got in really good shape. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to take this, I'm going to take this Navy Seal endoc test, and I'm going to go be a Navy Seal.

So this is when I started to think, like, if I just reach high enough up in the government, everybody will see that I'm loyal, I'm an American, and, you know, that'll be it. And so becoming a Navy Seal was, at the time, pretty much the highest level I could reach. in the military as an enlisted individual. I took the end dock and I passed it. You know what I'm saying? The physical test. You had to swim like 500 meter,

do push-ups, pull-up sit-ups, and then run a mile and a half with, you know, the candy pants and boots. And it all in a certain time. I passed that shit. Navy writes me orders to go to buds, basic underwater demolition, seal training

and I'm getting ready to go to seal training by now my roommate is already down there in Coronado Island and right before I get ready to go and see I just roll up on me and they're like you can't do that man no they're like you can't you can't be a fucking Navy seal

they're like you're still under investigation for terrorism I was like Oh, I didn't know that this shit was still, you know, so what the fuck is going on? So I go and, you know, I pull my own service record and then I can see like all of the documents. You know what I'm saying? And then this is when I start to become aware that I'm on an FBI suspect list.

It was on the internet, my social security number, which is still there today, everything. And this is when I started to realize that this thing was probably something that was going to follow me for the rest of my life. You know what I mean? And that's when I started to try to figure out how to get out of this situation. So if I couldn't be a Navy SEAL, what could I do? you know I I maxed out my military career I I was an early promote highest eviled best in everything every year I really like dedicated myself to it and I figured like I can't have any blemishes I can't have a speeding ticket I can't which I've never had a speeding ticket in my whole life never And I'm like, I'm going to pay my taxes. I'm going to vote.

I'm going to serve my country to the maximum. And I'm going to try to reach as high up in the government as I can. And that's what's going to get me out of this situation. You know what I mean? And that's what I started to do. What happened to your dad? What's the outcome with him? So my dad was, he was found not guilty of any terror-related charges,

but they brought him back to Oklahoma, and they charged him as a felon in possession of firearms, because we had on him guns in the house. So he had a, he had the conviction, the felony conviction when he was. was in the military. So he was 18 when that happened. And so at this time, he was 52, 53.

And so they used that felony conviction of him when he was 18 to charge him as a felon illegally possessed firearms. And that was the only thing they could get on him. So he did like, I want to say he did like two years and some change. But by then, they gave him time. It wasn't time served. It was like time held because he was just being held by the FBI for a year with no charges, nothing. And again, the Patriot Act, the Patriot Act voided our civil rights because we had received a terrorist designation in connection with a foreign adversary.

So at that point, your rights and shit, you don't have no rights. You know what I'm saying? The government could do whatever they wanted to do to you, and you have no legal recourse. They bugged our phones. They tracked us. They sent, they spoke to employers, you know what I'm saying? Got us fired from jobs, like all kinds of shit. all in the guise of this is part of their investigation,

ongoing investigation, and the Patriotite made it all legal, you know? So he served his time for the weapons and just being honest, you know, whatever he experienced as a result of the situation, it broke him, you know. And he really had to think that he was, responsible for like my brother's career, you know, ending and then, you know, me doing what I was doing.

He was really afraid for me because he figured that I'm like in the lion's den. And so if somebody wanted to get rid of me, it was actually easier where I was, you know what I'm saying? And that broke him, man, you know. So when he came, when he came back, you know, you know. He just got heavy into drinking and just, that was the end. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin,

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mocha. Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks Frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries. Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like like I did and have one of your assistants assistants to switch you to MintMobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch.

Up front payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. Yeah. You passed away?

No, he didn't pass away. But he just he just kind of gave up, you know what I'm saying? You have a relationship with him now? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But for the most part, man, like he really just, you know, he gave up on life. You know what I'm saying? Did that guilty association with him ever go away? Does it ever go away? So yes and no. The information is still out there. Like I said, you can search any of the stuff on the internet. You can see all of that. you know, I went on a 15-year journey to clear my name, my dad's name, and my brother's name.

You know what I mean? After I left the military, very long and arduous process. But I ended up becoming an intelligence officer for a spy agency, which is crazy, right? And I'm probably the only person I'm probably the only person in American history to go from being labeled a terrorist

terrorist suspect, whatever to become an intelligence officer at a spy agency. I mean, who else is out there? Let me know. But it took a long time. I was constantly being denied a top secret

clearance. because every agency would say that I had known ties to terrorism. So what I started doing was I would apply for these top secret positions. One of them was the Secret Service. And I passed everything. Everything. I remember they had this one test. it was like crazy.

It was like I was in a room there was actually an FBI agent and a cop in the room with me and we're all taking this test at the same time

and they're like sliding pictures in front of us and then taking them away real quick and sliding another one in front of you taking away real quick and then they're like you know

what color was the car over here or what you know what did you see over there and I was on it I'm like, yeah, it was this. The car was white. There was a man actually on the roof.

You know what I'm saying? This and that. The FBI agent and the cop failed the shit. I passed. I passed and went to the, they call it a factor V, factor five interview. This is the last stage of the Secret Service before they bring you in, then you go through their training regimen. and again, they're on all this spooky shit.

You know, I met the guy. He gave me the address. It's in downtown Kansas City. The bottom floor of the building was under construction. It looks like it was condemned or something. I'm walking in. I'm like, what the fuck? Like, there's tarps and shit everywhere.

But there's an elevator in the back. So I go to the elevator. I think it was only like one floor up I hit the button the door opens you walk out into this little room there's a woman behind a glass and she's like are you here for the interview?

I'm like yes she hits a button opens the other elevator to the right you get on that elevator then you go up to the upper floor and I'm in there with you know Agent Bob you know what I'm saying

by this time I'm very comfortable and familiar with with this type of environment, you know. And he's got my entire like life in a document. And we basically

like go through every page of the shit. You know what I'm saying? And I'm telling the story. This motherfucker Zacharias Musawe, this happened and then blah, blah, blah. I'm telling everything. And then, you know, at the end, he's like, all right, well, you know, I'll write up the report

and then you'll hear from us, you know, on our final decision. They said no. So then I have to file Freedom of Information Act request, get a copy of my job application, and I can see the actual explanation, known ties to terrorism. So now I take that document, and then I find out. file congressional complaint and I tell my congressperson if I'm sitting in the office with a secret service agent and he deems that I'm I have known ties to terrorism right now and that's the grounds for refusal of my employment why the fuck isn't he arresting me you know what I'm saying

then they would send the congressional inquiry to to secret service and then see Secret Service wouldn't have a real response because it was all bullshit. They were just trying to keep me, they were trying to blackball me. And bro, that shit took like 12 years. I passed everything. I don't, every, every, every, uh, agency out there that has a, a top secret, whatever, I was a prime candidate and then couldn't proceed because of the terrorism shit, my background.

But finally, after enough. congressional inquiries, the government literally, they ran out of legitimate or legal reasons why they could deny me a clearance. And then finally,

they granted my clearance. Do you feel like that was symbolic declaring your name, getting that clearance? It absolutely was. So the agency that brought me in, it was the defense intelligence agency. DIA

and they bring me in and you know it's the same thing because you can go to an agency that requires a top secret clearance or a sensitive clearance or whatever but going to a spy agency

is a little bit different you know what I'm saying so again you know I got to do another polygraph and all this shit and I'm going to tell you man um have you seen any of the Matrix movies

Yeah, of course, I watched all of them I used to go pretend I was sick when I was a kid and just watch the movies. Matrix Reloaded was my favorite because of all the Octopus-looking things with that fight and during that I'd watch that same fight scene

over and over and over again. Oh, wow. What was that revolution? I don't know, either one. One or two or three. A lot of Matrix references for me because I didn't watch the first movie until after 9-11,

So when I seen how he was running from agents and shit, that shit hit me hard. But I think it was in the second movie where he's like getting the key master or whatever and he ends up in the room with the architect. You know, the motherfucker who's like making all this shit happen. Well, when the defense intelligence agency brought me in to D.C., like it was like I got into the room with the architect.

It was like one of those moments, man, where everything that had happened to me in my entire life comes out of rooms like this. You know what I'm saying? And now I was in the room. And they were really just like kind of frustrated, you know what I'm saying? Because they had to like deal with me. But they were going to scrutinize me. You know what I mean?

And so again, we did a polygraph test. and this was the best polygraph test I've ever done. You're proud of that. I was proud because I had the power of the truth. And man, I knew it. The examiner knew it. And I fucking loved it. He's asking me these questions about, am I a terrorist?

Am I this and that? Nope, nope, this and that. Told the truth about my dad. Is your dad a terrorist or whatever? Nope. Criminal? Yes. terrorists nope totally honest past the shit had to talk to uh do the psyche vow they sent me down

with a uh psychiatrist or whatever she kind of goes through my entire life history too she's really curious like why why do you want to work for a spy agency given your background and shit like that and i'm like ma'am would you ask any other american that question because i'm an american and I served my country honorably. And there's no reason why you should have to ask me that, that question. Moving on. Yeah, bitch, move on. You know what I'm saying?

Like, for real. That's how I was treating it, you know. And yeah, man, they had to let me in. And I got in. You know, I came in, I did all the usual government action stuff, swore in. get your little badges and all that. And the day I was picking up, like, all of my, my ID and doing all this stuff in processing,

some other folks showed up, you know what I'm saying? And then they took me to another agency. So I came in through DIA, and the day I started, DIA loaned me to another agency. and then, you know, I was in a black site, and they plugged me in, and I was fully operational. When did you retire from that position? In 2020. 2020?

Yeah. So you had a, how long was your total career between the military? I know you said 15 with the military, but all together. So I did six in the military, six active, two inactive reserve. Then I worked for the federal government in other capacities. as well. I worked for the VA. I worked for USDA. I did a lot of shit. But I didn't hit the intelligence community until 2018. And then at the end of 2020 was finally when I was able to fully verify that we were no longer on these list. Because you got to understand,

in order to give me a top secret clearance, not only do I have to be vetting. it, but so does like my immediate family and stuff. And so what I did was, I moved my father into my house. Yeah. So they had to, they had to either shit or get off the pot. If these dudes are terrorists, do something about it. If they're not shut the fuck up with all that bullshit, you know what I'm saying? And, yeah, man, I basically called their bluff on it.

And they were like, all right, you're good, everybody's good. That's incredible. And that's what cleared our names. And then once I was able to fully verify that, then I quit. Did you retire or you just quit? I quit. So no pension, nothing? Wow.

And you moved into this act, too, of life that you're doing now. Yeah, yeah. I'll tell the audience what it is you do now, what life's been like after leaving. So I was kind of dabbling into film around 2018 is when I started. But yeah, once I left that job, then I really got in the filmmaking. And so I write, produce, and direct movies. You know, my life story, well, funny enough, that Navy SEAL buddy who was my roommate after his Navy SEAL career, he went on to be, he's in like Michael Bay films,

he's in a Transformers movie, he's in like Six Underground and all this other shit. Is he really? Yeah. Hmm. And I'm calling him, you know, I'm like, man, how, how, what are you doing? How are you? He's like, man, you should write your story as a, as a movie. And so I wrote it as a movie, sent it into a national competition,

won the competition the first script I ever wrote so I was like okay well you know maybe maybe this is a way I can get my story out there and so through me trying to tell my story through film that got me into filmmaking you know what I mean and so

and now I'm doing it I just you know I told you earlier that I just produced a lifetime movie it came out January 18th the girl in the garage based on a true story But yeah, six years I went from, you know, a guy in the basement.

I made my first movie with my cell phone and some sock puppets. You know what I'm saying? You know, I pulled my coffee table up to my chest. I sat on the floor, pull my coffee table up, lean my phone on my chest, and I had my sock puppets. Doing the whole movie, man.

Whole 90-minute movie, sock puppets. You know what I'm saying? I even got sophisticated where I had a, a dry race board and I would take a photograph, blow it up, tape it to the dry race board, and put that behind me. So it was like my two sock puppets

were in different places. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I didn't know what I was doing or how I was going to do it, but I was going to do it. And so, yeah, man, in six years,

I went from sock puppets to, you know, lifetime. That's awesome, man. Yeah. What do you think is the underlying message here from your story, like the lesson to be learned from, you know, the audience from hearing all of this put together and play out? What do you think that is? That's a good question. Because I think there's a few.

There's definitely a few. There's a few. You know, you could say the cliche, you know, triumph. You can say perseverance. You can say whatever. But I think the biggest thing that happened for me was, you know, I never gave up a lot on my family. You know what I mean? And the truth, man, the truth is the most powerful thing that you can possess.

If you are not afraid of whatever your truth is, tell the truth. live in your truth, whatever you want to say with it, uh, it's really hard for people to do things to you that, that you don't want them to do. You know what I mean? The way, the way the,

the FBI and the government work, they work off information. And they use information to steer public opinion. They use it to, um, paint people in a certain light, and things.

like that and when you're able to legitimately reveal truth that's a it's it's it's an unmatched weapon you know what I mean well man thank you so much for coming on the show today your story is incredible man I appreciate that it really is and you do such a good job you know sharing it and just the storytelling and just everything man so thank you I appreciate you coming on, man. I wish you the best in the future. And if there's anything I can ever do for you, please let me know. Thank you, brother.

Appreciate you. Thank you.