Man kicked off JetBlue flight after shouting racist abuse
Airline has banned passenger for life
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A man was removed from a flight by police after shouting racist abuse at fellow passengers onboard the aircraft.
The unnamed white man, who was caught on video by several other travellers during the incident, initially became angry after finding there was no space for his bag in the overhead lockers, reports local media.
He then became embroiled in an altercation with a black woman over seating allocations, which sparked a racist tirade.
In one of the videos taken onboard the aircraft, the man, who is wearing a Burger King cardboard crown, claims the woman had kneed him in the stomach.
“Call the f***ing police right now, I know you saw it,” he shouts in footage shared on social media by Twitter user @KING__MEKA.
“Excuse me, I’m part West African, I can say n****r anytime I want,” he went on.
In other footage shared online, he shouts: “Get that n****r bitch off the plane.”
The following footage contains swearing and racist language
Cabin crew can be heard trying to calm him down and asking him to stop shouting while they sort out the situation, to no avail.
“She kneed me in the stomach,” he says. “I want a f***ing lawsuit right now mother f***er.”
The following footage contains swearing and racist language
The situation escalated into a full-on fight, with the man shouting the n-word repeatedly and other passengers weighing in and trying to hit him.
Police were called to attend the scene and the man was later filmed being escorted through the airport to applause and cheering from other passengers.
The incident took place on a JetBlue flight from Kingston, Jamaica to New York on 20 October, prior to take-off.
The following footage contains swearing and racist language
A spokesperson for JetBlue told The Independent that the man had been banned from flying with the airline: “We would like to thank our crewmembers for immediately intervening and requesting the assistance of law enforcement during this very difficult incident. We have zero tolerance for racism or harassment, and after reviewing this customer’s abhorrent racist behavior, we have determined he is no longer welcome to fly JetBlue.”
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