Two Muslim-American women were allegedly thrown off an American Airlines flight because a male attendant felt ‘threatened’ and ‘unsafe’.
Niala Khalil, who is a multimedia broadcast journalist at Voice of America (VOA), took to Facebook to narrate the incident claiming they were singled out because of “my friend’s statement ‘evil-eye’ bracelet, the fact that I was watching a Pakistani drama on my iPhone, or our obvious Muslim last names that made him uncomfortable.”
Khalil, and her friend, a Pakistani-American who works for the federal government, were on a delayed flight from Miami to Washington DC, when another white male passenger initiated conversation with one of them about the lack of customer care.
“Suddenly, a male flight attendant walking by singled out my friend and stated, ‘If you have a problem, you can get off the plane.’ My friend replied, ‘I have no problem–I am simply stating facts. We were given one glass of water in 5 hours.’ The attendant responded by once again threatening my friend, ‘Well, I can have you removed for instigating other passengers.'”
Since the flight attendant did not have a badge and didn’t identify himself, they snapped a photo of the man to show it to another attendant and ask for his name in order to file a complaint with the airline management. However, they were caught taking a picture and were told to delete it as it was a ‘federal offence’.
The attendant in question was identified as ‘Rog’ but the women were told to leave the plane by the airline’s customer relations representative Lourdes Broco who escorted them out where several armed Air Marshalls and Miami-Dade police officers were waiting for them. The women were offered a $200 credit for future travel with American Airlines and a $24 food voucher. The only reason they were given for being thrown off the plane was that Rog had felt threatened by them. “However, the white male passenger my friend was speaking to was ironically not removed from the plane with us,” Khalil wrote on her Facebook page.
Speaking to Buzzfeed News, Khalil said, “Maybe it was because I was watching a Pakistani drama (show), or our name, or because my friend had a giant evil eye bracelet on. Or maybe it was because we were darker, especially after being on vacation in Miami.”
“I don’t know what they could possibly feel threatened by. I can’t even begin to say it was our behaviour because we weren’t loud or obnoxious and anything,” she added.
A Miami-based spokesperson for American Airlines, Alexis Coello, said they are looking into the incident and could not provide any further details. “American Airlines does have a rule that says ‘employees are allowed to inhibit passengers from taking pictures, in the airport or in the airplane,’” adding that the rule was in place for the safety of their employees.
This article originally appeared on Buzzfeed.
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