Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump supporters who stormed Capitol should be banned from flights, says union

‘Acts against our democracy, our government and the freedom we claim as Americans must disqualify these individuals from the freedom of flight,’ says association

Helen Coffey
Friday 08 January 2021 12:54 GMT
Comments
Capitol Breach Social Media
Capitol Breach Social Media (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Leer en Español

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Donald Trump supporters who broke into the US Capitol should be banned from flying out of Washington, a union has said.

The pronouncement followed unruly behaviour from some insurgents on inbound flights to attend the rally, according to sources at two US airlines, reports Reuters.

Now, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents employees at 17 US airlines, has said rioters should not be allowed to return home on commercial flights.

“The mob mentality behaviour that took place on several flights to the DC area yesterday was unacceptable and threatened the safety and security of every single person onboard,” said the association’s president, Sara Nelson.

“Acts against our democracy, our government and the freedom we claim as Americans must disqualify these individuals from the freedom of flight.”  

Other members of the travel industry also condemned the rioters, with US Travel Association head Roger Dow saying: “The behaviour we are witnessing has no place in any peaceful democracy, much less in the country that is supposed to be the foremost example of democratic principles.”

At least four people are dead after the attack on the US Congress building, including one police officer.

Armed Trump supporters marched on the building and pushed through police barricades to break in, forcing members of congress to evacuate.

British travellers cannot currently fly from the UK to Washington or anywhere else in the US. In March 2020, President Trump banned “aliens who were physically present within the United Kingdom” within the past two weeks.

A curfew was introduced by the Mayor of Washington following the riots around the Capitol from 6pm on 6 January until 6am on 7 January.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in