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An imam and a youth coordinator at a Minneapolis mosque were prohibited from boarding a flight Saturday morning to Saudi Arabia as part of a spiritual pilgrimage, an attorney for the mosque confirmed Sunday. The attorney said it's likely the men are on a federal "no fly" list because they and the mosque have been connected by rumor to a number of missing Somali men whose families fear have returned to their East African homeland to fight in that nation's civil unrest or to receive terrorist training. The FBI, which has been investigating alleged links between some in Minneapolis' large...

If I were a terrorist, and I’m not, but if I were a terrorist—a frosty, tough-like-Chuck-Norris terrorist, say a C-title jihadist with Hezbollah or, more likely, a donkey-work operative with the Judean People’s Front—I would not do what I did in the bathroom of the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, which was to place myself in front of a sink in open view of the male American flying public and ostentatiously rip up a sheaf of counterfeit boarding passes that had been created for me by a frenetic and acerbic security expert named Bruce Schnei­er. He had made these boarding passes...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― A Minneapolis man arrested in the same airport bathroom sex sting that netted U.S. Senator Larry Craig has been acquitted. Thirty-nine-year-old Vince Tuzon used a similar argument to Craig in pleading not guilty. Tuzon claimed he wasn't guilty because the police officer initiated the foot-tapping. A Hennepin County jury agreed with Tuzon. His lawyer says Tuzon feels he was set up after being "essentially bombarded with overtures" while in the bathroom. A Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman says they were "disappointed" with the verdict. Craig was arrested June 11 in the same operation. The Idaho senator first pleaded...

WASHINGTON - The Senate Ethics Committee said Wednesday that Idaho Sen. Larry Craig acted improperly in connection with a men's room sex sting last year. In a letter to the Republican senator, the ethics panel said Craig's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea after his June arrest at a Minneapolis airport was an effort to evade legal consequences of his own actions. Craig's actions brought discredit on the Senate, the letter said.

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by a group of imams against US Airways and a Minneapolis airport can proceed. U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said in a 41-page opinion late yesterday that the imams, who say they were discriminated against when they were removed from a flight last year, have a plausible claim that their constitutional rights may have been violated. The imams "have adequately stated a claim" that airport police may have "seized plaintiffs in violation of their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures," Judge Montgomery ruled.

Six men were removed from an airplane at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Monday evening. Sources say the men, of Middle Eastern ethnicity, behaved in a manner that caused the crew to be concerned. The men were taken off the plane after it returned to the gate and are being questioned by authorities. The remaining passengers were also taken off the flight, U.S. Airways flight 300, bound for Phoenix. Those passengers are being re-screened for boarding. There were 170 passengers on board the plane, which is a Boeing 757. Stay with FOX 9 News and MyFOX9.com for continuing updates on...

Mary Mostert Mary Mostert September 1, 2007 There are only two people on the planet earth who really know what actually happened in the Minneapolis Airport men's restroom in June — Senator Larry Craig and Sgt. David Karsnia. One of them is lying, but so far only Sen. Craig has been tagged as the liar. However, now that we have the transcript of the police interview, it appears not only to me but to others that it isn't the Senator who is the problem here. Sgt. Karsnia seemed absolutely determined to try to take down the Senator. Another point that...

The catchphrase of America's famous cowboy humorist Will Rogers was "Never met a man I didn't like." Judging from the activities at the men's room of the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills, many of the patrons of said facility evidently feel the same way. George Michael, the stubbly boy rocker of the Eighties, was arrested therein for attempting to play footsie with an undercover cop. "Guilty feet have got no rhythm," as George famously observed on his hit song "Careless Whisper." After pleading no contest, he subsequently made a rock video mocking the arresting officer, with George prancing...

Sen. Larry Craig's case has opened a window on a small but thriving subculture. The founder of a popular cruising Web site discusses what makes a hotspot, the etiquette and trends in the online quest for gay sex—and his concern that mere foot-tapping could trigger an arrest. The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is enjoying a rather awkward moment in the sun, as reporters descend on the men’s room where Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig was arrested for disorderly conduct owing to the foot taps heard round the world. But the Twin Cities flight hub was flashing red in a smaller...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A foot-tapping ritual was a common thread in many of the 41 arrests reported during a four-month airport bathroom sting that snared Sen. Larry Craig. An undercover officer would take a seat in a stall. Soon another man would sit in the stall next door and start tapping his foot, perhaps moving it closer to the officer's. The officer would move his foot up and down slowly. The suspect might then extend his hand under the divider between the stalls, sometimes repeatedly. That would be enough to get the man busted. Airport police reports obtained by The...

Police Officers Question Craig After Arrest at Minneapolis Airport Aug. 30, 2007 — The following is an unedited transcript of an interview between police Sgt. Dave Karsnia and police Detective Noel Nelson with Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, regarding a June 11 incident at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Audiotapes and a transcript of the interview were released today. Craig was arrested June 11 in an airport bathroom by Karsnia, who was working undercover. Karsnia said Craig exhibited behavior in the men's restroom that was "often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct." Craig later pleaded guilty...

MINNEAPOLIS — The six Muslim leaders who were removed from a US Airways flight last fall after passengers thought they were acting suspiciously will not include those passengers in their lawsuit against the airline and police, an attorney for the imams said Wednesday. A motion to amend the complaint to include the names of airline employees and police officers was entered Tuesday in U.S. District Court, attorney Frederick Goetz said. "We've identified the people we think are responsible," he said. No passengers were named. The imams, who were handcuffed and questioned, say the airline discriminated against them and violated their...

There has been plenty of controversy regarding Muslim cab drivers and their refusal to drive certain passengers, including those with service animals. Now, in hopes of making amends, many drivers are offering free rides to attendees at a local blind conference. (Video story at link)

The operator of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Monday approved tougher penalties for cabdrivers who refuse service to travelers carrying alcohol, as some Muslim drivers have done for religious reasons. The Metropolitan Airports Commission voted to suspend a driver's airport taxi license for 30 days for the first offense and revoke it for two years for a second offense. The new penalties take effect May 11. Airport officials say more than 70 percent of the cabbies at the airport are Muslim, and many of them claim Islamic law prohibits them from giving rides to people carrying alcohol. Under the...

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport wants to crack down on Muslim taxi drivers who refuse to carry alcohol or service dogs in their cabs. At a meeting Wednesday of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, airport staff asked the commission to give the go-ahead for public hearings on a tougher policy that would suspend the licenses of drivers who refuse service for any reason other than safety concerns. Drivers who refuse to accept passengers transporting alcohol or service dogs would have their airport licenses suspended 30 days for the first offense and two years for the second offense, according to a revised taxi...

A Phoenix imam who was one of six Muslim men removed from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis on Nov. 20 once worked with two U.S. organizations accused of having links to terrorism. But Omar Shahin said Friday that he wasn't involved in anti-American activity and no longer is associated with either group. Also on Friday, US Airways said the men's ejection had nothing to do with their backgrounds and stemmed only from passengers' and crew members' concerns about their behavior. Questions about Shahin surfaced in July 2005, when author and terrorism investigator Steven Emerson, author of "Jihad Incorporated: A...

My Kind of GOP Why do the Republicans seem to be on autopilot? By Chester E. Finn Jr. To be a heartfelt Republican has gotten hard in recent years, but while we were in charge in Washington and most state capitols it was easy, though perhaps unwise, to keep still about this. Will the GOP use its recent losses to change itself into something that more people again feel positive about? Or will everyone assume that the 2006 election was just an anti-Bush, anti-Iraq glitch and therefore the party should stay on its present course until those two unpopular interruptions...

Since Barbra Streisand hasn't weighed in yet with her advice to the Republican party as to how it might regain power, we'll have to settle for the counsel that WaPo columnist E.J. Dionne generously offers in his column of today, Can the GOP Find Its Center?His advice boils down to a two-part program: forget about conservatism already, and Be Like Bill.Dionne begins by proclaiming that "this fall's election defeat . . . revealed that the Barry Goldwater-Ronald Reagan political settlement has expired," by which he apparently means that conservatism as a winning political philosophy has gone the way of the...

A worker discovered the device in the trunk of a returned rental car. It didn't contain explosives but the FBI is investigating. A bomb-like device was found in a rental car Sunday morning at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, shutting down part of the Lindbergh terminal parking ramps for about two hours. The Bloomington police bomb squad examined and blew up the device. FBI agents interviewed the man who rented the car after he arrived on the West Coast on Sunday. He said that the device was not a bomb and that he didn't mean to leave it behind, said...

The Humphrey Terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was evacuated this evening after bomb-sniffing dogs smelled something suspicious in an unattended bag. Passengers and employees were sent to a parking garage across the street. The Bloomington bomb squad was on the scene. Planes were moved away from the gates as a precaution. The Lindbergh Terminal was not affected by the evacuation. Light rail service continued through the evacuation.

Terri Schiavo's parents turned her death into a three-ring circus. We don't question their love for their daughter and their grief at her passing, but one has to wonder why they allowed everyone from Randall Terry to Tom DeLay to Jesse Jackson to intrude into their family's tragedy. Robert and Mary Schindler did not protest as fringe right-to-life groups exploited their daughter's image. They generated a sad, made-for-cable-TV spectacle and fed it with edited video footage from their daughter's hospice bed and sinister accusations about Michael Schiavo. In the last few days, the Schindlers also agreed to allow some of...

Schiavo Videotape Misleading, Experts Say Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:06 PM GMT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The videotape that runs endlessly on television stations around the world shows an apparently smiling Terri Schiavo being caressed by her mother's loving hand. She seems to look deeply, even lovingly, into the off-camera eyes of her mother. Schiavo's parents and their supporters, including doctors in Congress, have used the tape as evidence the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman is at least occasionally aware of her surroundings and might even be revived from her condition. They are fighting to get her feeding tube reinserted against the wishes...

State trooper charged with drug possession Officer from Flint, assigned to Brighton post, is arraigned on cocaine charges Tuesday, February 22, 2005 BY LIZ COBBS News Staff Reporter A 43-year-old Michigan State Police trooper assigned to the Brighton post has been charged with cocaine possession. Todd E. Cardoza, a trooper since 1987, was arraigned Saturday on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine less than 25 grams. Cardoza, of Flint, and three other people were arrested Thursday by members of the Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team. He was held at the Genesee County Jail after his arrest. Cardoza has been...

MINNEAPOLIS -- A woman was arrested after attempting to board a flight en route to Syria with more than $24,000 in cash hidden in her clothes, officials said Tuesday. Amneh Ahmad Abbas, 49, a Syrian citizen who lives in New Orleans, was charged Monday with trying to evade currency reporting requirements, the U.S. Attorney's office said. She was ordered held without bail. The U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment on whether Abbas, who has permanent resident status in the United States, is suspected of involvement in terrorist activity. However, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was taking part in the...

A man arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in July pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to federal authorities about his travels to Iraq. Ali Mohammed Abboud Almosaleh entered his plea Tuesday in federal court. He is charged with three counts of lying to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents. A public defender was appointed for Almosaleh. He also faces a detention hearing on Friday. Armed marshals had a heavy presence in the courtroom. Almosaleh, a slight, balding man, listened as he was informed of his rights through an Arabic interpreter. Almosaleh was arrested July 7 shortly after getting...

The Transportation Security Adminsitration says its trial run of the "registered traveler" program is going so well it's considering extending the life of the project. The program allows some frequent flyers to bypass regular security checkpoints in their home airports by agreeing to background checks and identity verification through fingerprint and iris scans. The TSA launched the program at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in early July. St. Paul, Minn. — There's rarely a wait at the new "registered traveler-only" checkpoint at the Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport. Northwest Airlines says on the busiest days upwards of 200 people make their way...

An Iraqi man arrested this month at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for immigration law violations was charged Wednesday with lying to authorities about his travels outside the United States and about anti-American material he was carrying. When Ali Mohammed Abboud Almosaleh, 40, arrived at the airport on a flight from Amsterdam July 7, he told customs officers he had been out of the country for one month and had traveled to Syria, court documents said. But he actually had been gone for five months and had visited Iraq. He told officers that his digital video discs with images of...

MINNEAPOLIS - The war on terrorism is again at Minnesota's front door after federal authorities arrested a man who they suspect has terrorism ties. Federal sources told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the man was arrested last Wednesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Sources in the Twin Cities and in Washington D.C. said the man arrived on a flight and was taken into federal custody. Along the way, customs agents found disturbing items in his possession. The U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that Ali Mohamed Almosaleh is in federal custody in the Twin Cities. He...

Five men from five countries who have lived in the Twin Cities area have been charged or convicted in investigations that stem from the U.S. war on terror. A sixth man was recently arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with a suspicious note. None of the cases appear to be connected to each other.

Two very interesting stories....Syrian men on flights.

Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested the passenger, Ali Mohamed Almosaleh, on July 7 in Minneapolis after he was picked randomly for a search, sources said. Agents found Almosaleh to be carrying what they described as a suicide note and DVDs containing "anti-American material," officials said.

MINNEAPOLIS - A United Airlines passenger is accused of dropping his pants at a security checkpoint at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in an extreme example of frustration with airport security. According to police reports, Daryl Miller of Golden Valley was fed up with Transportation Security Administration procedures. When an agent tried to screen him using a security wand, police say he dropped his pants. The police report said Miller was not wearing underwear so his genitals were exposed. The police report says he then told the screener, “There, how do you like your job?” Investigators said Miller had a note...

MINNEAPOLIS - The war on terrorism is again at Minnesota's front door after federal authorities arrested a man who they suspect has terrorism ties. Federal sources told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the man was arrested last Wednesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Sources in the Twin Cities and in Washington D.C. said the man arrived on a flight and was taken into federal custody. Along the way, customs agents found disturbing items in his possession.The U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that Ali Mohamed Almosaleh is in federal custody in the Twin Cities. He was...

The war on terrorism is again at Minnesota's front door. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has discovered federal authorities arrested a man who they suspect has terrorism ties. Federal sources tell us the man was arrested last Wednesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Sources here in the Twin Cities and in Washington D.C. say that he arrived on a flight and was taken into federal custody. Along the way, customs agents found disturbing items in his possession. The U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirms to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, Ali Mohamed Almosaleh is in federal custody here in the Twin Cities....