New Hampshire
NH man says he was detained for hours at border
MANCHESTER, N.H. (CNN) – A New Hampshire man says he was detained for hours at the northern border while returning from a weekend trip to Canada.
Bachir Atallah, a U.S. citizen, says he was coming home with his wife Sunday night after visiting family for Palm Sunday. He says without providing a reason why, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent at the Vermont checkpoint reached for his gun and told him to step out of the car.
“He’s like, ‘Step out of the vehicle right now.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’m stepping out,” Atallah said. “I really felt like a criminal.”
Atallah says he was held in a freezing cold cell with no shoes or jacket for hours.
In a statement, CPB officials called Atallah’s claims “blatantly false and sensationalized,” saying officers acted in accordance with established protocols referring a traveler to a secondary inspection.
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