A black man is accusing the United States government of placing him on a kill-list after five near-death experiences.

Bilal Abdul Kareem, born Darrell Lamont Phelps, says a sense of humor has always kept him safe. During a short-lived career as a stand-up comedian, he was able to shut down his hecklers. When he converted to Islam and pivoted to a journalism career spent covering radical Islamic fighters, his quick wit might have saved his life, according to a story he told Rolling Stone.

“In the waning days of the Battle of Aleppo, as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s forces closed in on the city, Kareem found himself in a room full of desperate Free Syrian Army rebels.

“I was understandably nervous,” he remembers. “I was the only American inside of this very small area that was besieged.”

The talk in the room turned ominous.

“One of the guys said, ‘You know what? I heard you get $20,000 for kidnapping an American.’”

Kareem pauses as he recalls the scene. He would have stood out in that crowd, as he does everywhere in the Middle East: a black New Yorker with a loud belly laugh.

“You’ve got these nanoseconds to come up with some kind of response,” he explains. “You don’t want them to see you sweat.”

All the eyes in the room turned toward Kareem. Would this American fetch $20,000?

“Nah, man,” he said to his audience. “That’s just for the white ones.”

The room roared with laughter.

Now, he’s dealing with a situation that can’t be fixed with a joke. Kareem believes the United States government has tried to assassinate him five times. After two explosions, he didn’t notice the trend until he saw a drone tailing him. It later blew up an SUV.

“That’s when we first felt a little bit alarmed. For 20 minutes to be hovering over us, that wasn’t normal. Usually, they come, and then they go,” he recalled. “I thought the Earth had split. Our car was flipping into the air. I thought the car had fallen off something into the Earth.”

His suspicions were confirmed by a source in Turkey who told him he’d been placed on a target list for an American drone launching facility. He survived two more explosions after the tip.

Kareem has filed a lawsuit against the United States to clear his name and make sure he can exercise his right to a fair trial. According to The Atlantic, the government wants the case dismissed because Kareem cannot prove the attacks were purposeful, and that doesn’t give him a right to a trial. The judge ruled in his favor, saying while he cannot show the strikes were intentional, Kareem is entitled to a hearing because of his constitutional rights.

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Bilal Abdul Kareem

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