Mohanad Elshieky
Mohanad Elshieky is a Libyan stand up comedian based in Brooklyn who also serves as a digital producer on the TBS late-night comedy series Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. Early life Elshieky was born in Benghazi, Libya. He taught English classes in Benghazi where he met Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. He also worked as a translator and photographer after the start of the Civil War and hosted an English-language radio program. Due to his work for these outlets, he was targeted by Islamic militias during the period after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. In 2014, he moved to Portland in the United States as part of a Department of State exchange program at Portland State University. However, his family began receiving death threats, and Elshieky applied for asylum in the United States. He was eventually granted asylum status in October 2018. He earned a business degree from Portland State with a concentration in supply management. While traveling by Greyhound Bus in January 2019, he was briefly detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who accused him of being in the United States illegally. Elshieky later detailed his experience in a Twitter thread that went viral and was picked up