Hassan Alrefae, a computer systems senior and Muslim Students Association president, says he and his three roommates woke up early the morning of April 15 to more than a dozen FBI agents shouting and banging on their door.
The agents raided his three-bedroom, second-floor apartment located near Broadway and Rural roads supposedly looking for firearms, according to Alrefae.
"They handcuffed all of us outside and didn't say anything for 20 to 30 minutes," Alrefae said. "I don't know what they were doing."
According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Web site, non-immigrant visa holders can be deported if found in possession of firearms.
Alrefae said as many as 15 agents wearing bulletproof vests and armed with shotguns also entered the homes of two other Muslim students in Tempe and Mesa the same morning.
Alrefae, a U.S. citizen, said the agents told him they weren't investigating him but were investigating his roommates, who are international students from Saudi Arabia. One of his roommates, electrical engineering senior Jaber Thukair, is the MSA's vice president.
"They asked me if my roommates had guns," Alrefae said. "They showed us the search warrant, went into our apartment, searched the living room and took pictures."
Special Agent Manuel Johnson, spokesman for the FBI's Phoenix office, confirmed search warrants were served at two Tempe residences but released no further information, according to a report from the Associated Press.
No arrests were made according to Alrefae, who said the agents found no firearms in his home.
Alrefae, whose door was unlocked when the agents entered his apartment, said the agents had no reason to be there.
"The first thing that came to my mind is another misunderstanding by the FBI," Alrefae said. "What now? The war is over, and I couldn't think of anything as to why they would come in."
Alrefae said he went to a shooting range about a year ago, and he thinks that his roommates might have also gone recently. He added that Saudi Arabia does not have shooting ranges and that he and his roommates were curious about them.
Alrefae said his roommates came to the United States to get an education they could use in Saudi Arabia.
"A lot of them came with the idea of opportunity and advancement, but the climate and the environment is not as healthy as it used to be," Alrefae said.
Alrefae, whose father serves as a high-ranking officer in the Saudi Royal Navy, said the raid was a result of stricter surveillance of Muslims in the United States. "I think the nationality and the religious background played as the main factor in the raid," he said.
Alrefae, who said four of the six students whose homes were searched are not active MSA members, added that he doesn't believe the FBI targeted the ASU MSA specifically.
"It is normal for Muslim students to be concerned about what happened, but I don't think the MSA was targeted in any way," he said. "I think the campus and ASU administration know what the MSA is all about - to promote an atmosphere of understanding and tolerance and to educate students about Islam."
Alrefae said he and his roommates plan to meet with FBI officials later this week to discuss what happened.
"I want to ask them why they did it," he said. "I want to tell them it wasn't necessary for them to handcuff us."
FBI spokeswoman Susan Herksovits told The State Press the file of the search is sealed and no longer accessible.
"By a court order it is sealed, and I can't discuss anything," she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Reach the reporter at sarah.muench@asu.edu.
