A British Muslim family was
kicked off a flight to Disneyland reportedly because a Facebook account linked to their address listed job titles as "supervisor at Taliban and leader at al-Qaeda" – and because a family member had previously been barred from Israel.
Mohammad Tariq Mahmood and his family were stopped at Gatwick airport near London last week because of the "positive" references to the terrorists, an unnamed Department of Homeland Security source tells
CBS News.
The BBC also reports Mahmood had been refused entry to Israel eight years ago, though Mahmood insists he and another man remained at the airport before returning on a flight two days later.
According to
ITV News, the suspicious Facebook account was in the name of Hamza Hussain, and the references to the two terror groups appeared to be a joke. Mahmood, whose son's name is also Hamza, tells ITV News hackers could be to blame.
"That could be anything, maybe a mistake," he tells ITV News.
The new information adds context to an incident that had been initially described by Mahmood as an "obvious" anti-Muslim move by U.S. officials.
"It’s because of the attacks on America – they think every Muslim poses a threat," Mahmood
told the Guardian.
The BBC reports British officials stopped the family from boarding after getting a call from Washington.
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