Muslim woman says she was removed from flight because white passenger felt 'uncomfortable'

A Muslim woman says she was removed from an American Airlines flight because a white passenger felt "uncomfortable."

Per The Independent, 28-year-old Muslim Girl founder and blogger Amani Al-Khatahtbeh took to Twitter on Saturday, November 14, to share the story of how a man took exception to her after a tense interaction while they were standing in line for airport security.

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/AMANI2020/status/1327616808757698562]]

Writing to her 29,300 followers, Al-Khatahtbeh tweeted:

"I had the craziest experience in TSA this morning. An entitled white man behind me insisted on cutting me in line because I was 'still taking my shoes off.' When I said he could wait like everyone else, he started going off about how he’s 'pre check and 'first class.'

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/AMANI2020/status/1327616809831428098]]

She continued:

"He then proceeded to not only shove his things before mine but then RUN THROUGH THE MACHINE and TSA did NOTHING! Not only did they not do anything, a TSA officer had the audacity to tell ME to 'cut it out.' [sic]"

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/AMANI2020/status/1327616810825474049]]

She added:

"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. [sic]"

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/AMANI2020/status/1327855135654088707]]

In a follow-up post, Al-Khatahtbeh tweeted that the man in question had complained about her to an airline agent, and then shared a clip that appeared to show a man wearing an American Airlines yellow high-vis vest attempting to remove her from the flight.

In the video the man can be heard stating: "The captain asked me, as a manager, for me to remove you from the aircraft because there's a passenger on board who doesn't feel comfortable with you being here."

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/AMANI2020/status/1327629226166640640]]

Per Insider, Nihad Awad (National Executive Director of  the Council on American-Islamic Relations) commented on the incident by stating:

"Although we do not yet know all of the facts about this incident, we do know that American Airlines has a history of mistreating Muslim travelers.

"The airline must immediately explain why it singled out Amani by contacting the police and ejecting her from a flight based on the word of a man who had allegedly harassed her."

Meanwhile, an American Airlines spokesperson told Insider: "We are working with local law enforcement and have requested video footage from Terminal A and security."