Man, acquitted of terrorism charges, sues to become a U.S. citizen!!

It has been rough couple of years for Youssef Megahed.

He was arrested on explosives charges in South Carolina in 2007. At the time he was with a friend, Ahmed Mohamed, who later pleaded guilty to helping terrorists, reports Tampa Bay Online.

So Megahed spent most of the past two years behind bars instead of working on his engineering degree at the University of South Florida.

But a federal jury acquitted him of explosives charges, and an immigration judge concluded that the FBI had found no evidence linking him to terrorism.

While he was incarcerated, his entire Egyptian family became U.S. citizens.

He had applied for citizenship just weeks before his arrest, so his application was never fully processed.

After his release, he and his lawyer tried, without success, to revive the application.

Megahed said he wants to become a citizen "so I can continue living here, being treated like everyone else in this country. My career is in this country. ... I think it's a good place for opportunity. A person can enhance his career and education."

Now Megahed is suing the government to get officials to act on his citizenship petition.

His feelings about the government, he said, are separate from his feelings about the American people, and life in this country. "It's different living here," he said.

Megahed said he's cautious now about the sites he visits online. The information used against him in court included logs of his mostly fleeting visits to jihadi websites and violent videos he downloaded, depicting attacks on U.S. and coalition forces.

"I think I'm being more careful," he said.

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