In an announcement, for the first time after the US capitol riots, the FBI has acknowledged publicly that it is considering to put some of those who attacked the US capitol building on the ‘No-fly list’.
In a press conference held on January 12 afternoon, the FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono, in his response to a question by CNN’s Evan Perez, said “As far as the No-Fly list is concerned, we took all the tools and techniques that we can within the FBI and are actively considering the same.”
The acknowledgement comes in the wake of the congressional leaders’ demand to keep the rioters off the planes. “We cannot allow these insurrectionists to get onboard and cause more violence and damage,” said the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during the Conference.
When the person checks in at the airport, his reservation is checked against the TSA secure flight Database, which includes the information regarding No-fly list or selectee list. The secure flight system then gives the airline the information needed to generate a boarding pass or deny the passenger.
The House Homeland security chairman, Bennie Thompson, a democrat and John Katko, a republican wrote in a letter that they were also concerned that the same groups who disrupted the Capitol is planning to come to Washington DC and cause further violence in future including at the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Joe Biden.
The no-fly list is maintained by the Federal Bureau of investigation and administered by the Transportation Security Administration. This is derived from the FBI Terrorist screening database (TSDP) which began post the event of 9/11 attacks and the FBI or the other security agencies can nominate persons to the list.