A Muslim woman was recently arrested and escorted out from an American Airlines passenger aircraft after she picked up a fight with another passenger for going ahead of her in the security check line.
Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, a self-proclaimed political activist, was ejected and arrested from an American Airlines flight after she harassed a fellow passenger in first class.
On November 14, the 28-year-old Amani al-Khatahtbeh took to Twitter to narrate the entire incident and claimed that the trouble began at the security check. Al-Khatahtbeh said that she bent over to take her shoes off in the TSA screening line and a man walked in front of her.
He then proceeded to not only shove his things before mine, but then RUN THROUGH THE MACHINE and TSA did NOTHING!
— AMANI (@AMANI2020) November 14, 2020
Not only did they not do anything, a TSA officer had the audacity to tell ME to “cut it out.” 2/3
The Muslim woman said that the white man “cut in front of her” while she took time removing her shoes. The man told her that he had the TSA ‘pre-check’ designation and therefore could go in front of her because those with pre-check are not required to remove their shoes.
“I had the craziest experience in TSA (Transportation Security Administration) this morning,” she tweeted, adding that the other passenger had placed his luggage ahead of hers to be checked before skipping the queue to pass through a metal detector.
“When I said he could wait like everyone else, he started going off about how he’s ‘pre-check’ and ‘first-class’,” she said. It is notable here that it is a common practice in airports for pre-check passengers to go ahead in the line when the person ahead of them is taking time to empty their pockets or remove their shoes.
Pulling her Muslim card, Amani said that just because she was a ‘veiled Muslim woman’, the TSA security did not pay heed to her complain and allowed the ‘white man’ to cut the line.
Y’all know if I, a VEILED MUSLIM WOMAN, had the audacity to throw a temper tantrum and run through TSA security, I would have gotten BODIED. I would have been detained, missed my flight, possibly gotten charged, etc.
— AMANI (@AMANI2020) November 14, 2020
We need to resurrect the @muslimgirl #ShitTSASays column. 3/3
As per a recent report that has emerged after complete facts of the issue were discovered, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh started filming the ‘white man’ on board the AA flight to Charlotte. AA crew have now revealed that once she was on board, Amani confronted the passenger and started using profanities while live-streaming her rant, accosting him and creating a ruckus on the flight.
When Amani Al-Khatahtbeh did not budge and refused to exit the aircraft, the aircraft was emptied and she was escorted away by security personnel. She was reportedly taken briefly into custody, before being released without charge.
This is the @AmericanAir manager coming onboard to tell me that they’re removing me from my flight because “there is a passenger onboard who doesn’t feel comfortable” with me. pic.twitter.com/pwBS5NkvAn
— AMANI (@AMANI2020) November 15, 2020
Essentially, Amani was insinuating that she, being a Muslim, was removed from the flight after receiving a complaint from a ‘white man’ travelling in first class.
Was the lady removed because she was Muslim?
As various reports gave a religious spin to the whole controversy, an American Airlines spokesperson clarified saying that the initial witness accounts indicate the conflict began during TSA screening.
“Our understanding is that Ms Al-Khatahtbeh believed the other passenger, who is enrolled in PreCheck, was getting favourable treatment because he was allowed to proceed through security while she was removing her shoes.”
“This led to a verbal altercation that continued through the terminal and on the plane, where Ms Al-Khatahtbeh confronted the passenger and began filming him before taking her seat,” the American Airlines spokesperson said highlighting that she was removed for unauthorized photography or video recording onboard the flight. AA’s photography policy prohibits unauthorised filming of fellow passengers, crew or flight equipment.
Contrary to religious angle for her removal from the flight, her filming of another passenger against his consent violated onboard photography policy of American Airlines, resulting in her removal from the aircraft.