Star Wars’ Rizwan Ahmed Missed Convention Because Homeland Security Wouldn’t Let Him Fly

As THR reported, speaking recently at CAA’s Amplify leadership summit—which examines issues pertaining to diversity, treatment of minorities, and multicultural issues in both politics and the sports, entertainment, and tech industries—Rizwan Ahmed brought up his appearance (or rather lack thereof) at Celebration Chicago.

Ahmed—who played Imperial courier-turned Rebel hero Bodhi Rook in Rogue One—had to cancel his appearance at the convention. He told the panel he was detained by Homeland Security and not allowed to board because of his suspicious name. I should note that the last name Ahmed (pronounced A-ck-Med) is as common a surname as Johnson is in States.

Ahmed said:

[Hassan Minhaj] can win a Peabody, I can win an Emmy, Ibtihaj Muhammad can go to the Olympics, but some of these obstacles are systemic and we can’t really face them alone, we need your help. I’m basically here to ask for your help, because it’s really scary to be a Muslim right now, super scary. I’ve often wondered, is this going to be the year when they round us up, if this is going to be the year they put Trump’s registry into action. If this is going to be the year they ship us all off.

Federal scrutiny of Muslim travelers has spiked under Trump, whose administration is particularly focused on his so-called Muslim ban.