A Florida man was arrested on Tuesday after an incident aboard an airliner that escalated after he refused to leave the plane when asked to do so.
Shail Patel, 29, was eventually removed from an American Airlines plane as it sat on a Tampa runway, according to WFLA-TV. The plane was bound for Philadelphia.
Patel “began acting erratically yelling and cursing at the passengers, ” as soon as he boarded, police said, according to the New York Post.
A report from police said Patel began “antagonizing passengers, calling flight attendants names, threatening passengers and aggressively moving through the aircraft,” WFLA reported.
NEW: American Airlines passenger gets put in a headlock and escorted off plane after yelling an anti-Semitic slur and blaming white people for his problems.
The man was accused of hitting someone and got angry, triggering him to launch anti-Semitic slurs.
“I’ll see about it… pic.twitter.com/WLHuqeOV91
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 21, 2024
Patel slapped one passenger on the hand and face and spit at the passenger, police said.
Video of the incident shows him yelling at the passengers.
“I’m trying to get to my home country and you all people made it harder for me to get to my home country,” he shouted in a video posted to X.
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“F—you blue-eyed White devils — I’m gonna take this plane down with all you mother f—ers on it,” he said, according to police, WKMG-TV reported. The term is a racist epithet originating in Asia against people of European ancestry, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In a video posted to X, Patel refused a crew member’s command to leave, prompting a passenger to intervene.
Patel and the passenger then had a confrontation that ended when the other passenger grabbed Patel and immobilized him in a headlock.
“Now put your hands down and don’t touch anybody,” the passenger told Patel.
“I’m a police officer,” a woman wearing a cap backward said as she approached.
“So am I,” the passenger holding Patel said.
Police said Patel is a self-employed IT worker who lives in Tampa, according to WFLA.
Patel slurred his words, had “blood-shot eyes,” and smelled of alcohol, police said
Patel faces charges of disorderly intoxication and two counts of battery. He was being held at Hillsborough County Jail on a $2,150 bond.
The flight was delayed by 30 minutes due to the incident, according to WKMG.
