War hero’s father cancels talk over ‘travel privileges’
An American war hero’s father who has emerged as a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump has cancelled a scheduled speech this week in Toronto after learning his “travel privileges” were under review in the United States, organizers said Monday.
In a statement posted on Facebook by Ramsay Talks, the Toronto organization putting on Tuesday’s event, Khizr Khan apologized for the cancellation.
“This turn of events is not just of deep concern to me but to all my fellow Americans who cherish our freedom to travel abroad,” Khan said. “I have not been given any reason as to why. I am grateful for your support and look forward to visiting Toronto in the near future.”
Ramsay Talks said Khan, whose son Humayun was killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq in 2004, had planned to speak about “tolerance, understanding, unity and the rule of law” at the luncheon event.
He was notified late Sunday that “his travel privileges are being reviewed,” the statement said.
An organizer said the review originated in the United States, not Canada.
Khan was born in Pakistan and became an American citizen in 1986, the same year he graduated from Harvard law school. He came to public prominence last July at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where he delivered a broadside against Trump’s proposal for a ban on Muslim immigration. Khan spoke emotionally about his Muslim son, who was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart after his death.
“Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son ‘the best of America,’ ” he said. “If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims.”
Khan reminded Trump that people of “all faiths, genders and ethnicities” are among the war heroes buried at Arlington National Cemetery. “You have sacrificed nothing and no one,” he said.
Trump responded by criticizing Khan as “very emotional” and suggesting his wife stood at his side during the speech because their religion did not allow her to speak. “Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over TV doing the same — Nice!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Bob Ramsay, who organizes the lecture series, said he could not elaborate on Khan’s travel situation. “That’s all we can say right now,” he said by e-mail. “The statement was approved by Mr. Khan.”
Refunds are being offered to those who bought tickets, which cost $89. In the notice announcing the speech, Ramsay Talks said Khan, a Harvard-trained lawyer, would offer insight into “what we can do about the appalling turn of events in Washington. Please join us to hear the man who defines what America still is and must be.”