British commentator weighs legal action over U.S. detention

British political commentator Sami Hamdi said, on his arrival back in the United Kingdom on Thursday, that he was considering suing U.S. authorities after he was held in an immigration detention center over what he claims were his views on Gaza and Israel.

- BY KWIYEON HA AND PAN PYLAS

Two days after revealing he was leaving the U.S. voluntarily, Hamdi lauded federal judges for exonerating him over what he termed a “botched” detention by “extremists” within the U.S. government.

“I want to say that this wasn’t just an attack on me, it was an attack on the freedoms of ordinary Americans and citizens worldwide,” he told journalists and supporters outside a hotel near London’s Heathrow Airport following his return.

Hamdi, who is Muslim, was on a speaking tour in the U.S. when he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Oct. 26. He had just addressed the annual gala for the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the day before his arrest.