GULFPORT -- A Gulfport
man who said he was stranded in Hawaii for six days over a perplexing
"no-fly order" flew in to San Francisco late Friday afternoon after
learning he had been cleared to board an airplane.
Wade E.
Hicks Jr., 34, said no one has explained why he was suddenly placed on
the government's no-fly list Sunday while he was en route to Japan. The
newlywed of eight months had been stuck in Hawaii six days since
learning he wasn't allowed to finish a flight to see his wife, a Navy
lieutenant stationed in Okinawa.
Nor has anyone explained how his name was taken off the list, Hicks said.
Hicks
had driven to Travis Air Force Base in San Francisco last week and
boarded a flight as a military dependent on stand-by. The plane landed
on the island of Oahu at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, for a cleaning
and refueling layover. Hicks said U.S. Customs and Enforcement agent
approached him and said Hicks was on the no-fly list and he could not
leave Hawaii on a commercial or military airplane.
Hicks was stuck in Hawaii at his own expense.
Something changed after Hicks went public with his story and contacted his congressmen. His story made international headlines.
Hicks
said he still wants to know what happened and why, and he wants to
recoup his expenses from the government. He has filed requests under the
Freedom of Information Act for answers from the Transportation Security
Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
"They have not apologized nor given me any reason," Hicks said.
Hicks
told the Sun Herald on Friday morning he was cleared to fly and was on
stand-by for a flight to the air base in San Francisco, near where his
wife's family lives. His wife was expected to fly in to see him over the
weekend.
After his plane touched down about 5:37 p.m., he alerted the Sun Herald, and said he felt "great."
Hicks, a former volunteer firefighter in Hancock County, suspects he was placed on the list because of his outspoken views.
Hicks
has worked for a military contractor and said he has had high-level
security clearances for work on surveillance vessels. He said he has an
enhanced permit to carry a concealed weapon and had cleared an FBI
background check on the firearm permit last month.
Representatives
for U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and U.S. Rep Steven Palazzo said the
congressmen had been in contact with Hicks and federal authorities. Both
said the congressmen had done everything they could to respond to
Hicks' concerns, but they could not comment on a constituent's private
matters.
A TSA spokeswoman referred the Sun Herald to the FBI's
Terrorist Screening Center, where a spokesman said he could neither
confirm nor deny Hicks was on the no-fly list. The spokesman said about
500 Americans are on the list, which is reserved for persons suspected
of having ties to terrorism or of using air travel to an area to commit a
terrorist act.
Several years ago, Hicks started a radio show
called "The Free Speech Zone." He is an assistant engineer for WQRZ
Radio in Bay St. Louis and occasionally appears on a similar talk show,
station manager Brice Phillips said.
"He must have ruffled somebody's feathers," Phillips said. "He is not a terrorist."
http://www.sunherald.com
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