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Muhammad Ali’s son says he was detained again at airport

Muhammad Ali Jr., son of the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali, and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, who was Ali's second wife, attend a forum on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 9, 2017, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee members Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a leading advocate in the House for comprehensive immigration reform. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Muhammad Ali Jr., son of the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali, and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, who was Ali's second wife, attend a forum on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 9, 2017, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee members Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a leading advocate in the House for comprehensive immigration reform. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By Associated Press 2 min read

Muhammad Ali Jr. was detained and questioned at a Washington airport before being allowed to board a flight to Fort Lauderdale after meeting with lawmakers to discuss a separate airport detention incident last month, a lawyer for the late heavyweight champion’s son said Friday.

Ali and his mother, Khalilah Camacho Ali, were stopped at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after returning from Jamaica on Feb. 7. They traveled to Washington on Wednesday without incident to speak to members of a congressional subcommittee on border security about that experience.

But attorney Chris Mancini said that when Ali attempted to board a JetBlue Airways flight home to Florida that day he was detained for 20 minutes. Mancini said Ali spoke to Department of Homeland Security officials by telephone and showed his driver’s license and passport before he was allowed to board.

“None of this was happening Wednesday,” Mancini said in a telephone interview Friday afternoon as he was traveling with the Alis. “Going to Washington obviously opened up a can of worms at DHS.”

Florida Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was on the same flight, tweeted a photo with Ali after he was allowed to board and wrote: “On way home on DOMESTIC FLIGHT Muhammad Ali Jr. detained AGAIN … Religiously profiling son of ‘The Greatest’ will not make us safe.”