US domestic policy, Arab intimidation and rights against unreasonable search

A Visit from the FBI
By Yasir Aladdin Afifi, July 21, 2011

Patriot ActsThis August, Voice of Witness will release Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post-9/11 Injustice, edited by Alia Malek, an author (A Country Called Amreeka) and former Department of Justice attorney. A collection of oral histories, Patriot Acts tells the stories of men and women who have been needlessly swept up in the War on Terror. In their own words, narrators recount personal experiences of the post-9/11 backlash that have deeply altered their lives and communities. For more information on the book, visit Voice of Witness.

In this excerpt of oral history, edited by Alia Malek, Yasir Aladdin Afifi describes how he discovered that he was enmeshed in the FBI’s web of surveillance.

In October 2010, I took my car to my mechanic in Santa Clara for an oil change. As the mechanic was elevating the car on the hydraulic lift, I noticed that there was something like a piece of string or wire coming out from the back. Then, when the car was fully elevated, I noticed this black device under the back of the car. I asked the mechanic to pull it out, and he handed it to me. He was somewhat freaked out.

There was a big, black rod attached to something that looked like a walkie-talkie. I wasn’t freaked out because I had an idea of what it was— it looked like a tracking device! I didn’t think it was normal at all, and I had a feeling it was the FBI who’d put it there.

When I got home, some of my friends and I Googled the serial number of the tracking device. What came up was “Federal Property Tracking Device GPS, $1500, $4,200, $3,200.” I was thinking about selling it. I’m a salesman, that’s what we do! …more