An frum American passenger is accusing a United Airlines pilot of forcibly removing him from the bathroom on the plane without allowing him the opportunity to pull up his pants.
The passenger, Yisroel Leibb from New Jersey, filed a federal lawsuit earlier this week against both the airline and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The report states that DHS officers boarded the plane as soon as it touched down, and proceeded to escort Leibb off the plane in handcuffs.
Leibb, along with another frum passenger, claimed that the pilot of the flight from Tulum, Mexico to Houston, Texas made derogatory comments about Judaism. The two men also alleged that they missed a connecting flight to New York City due to US Customs and Border Protection inspections. Furthermore, they said the customs officers placed them in holding cells.
In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, Leibb said he had been in the bathroom for about 20 minutes when a flight attendant woke the second passenger, Yaakov Sebbag, from his nap to check on Leibb. Leibb explained that he was having difficulty and would be out soon, and Sebbag passed that information along to the flight attendant. However, about 10 minutes later, the pilot instructed Sebbag to check on Leibb once more. The pilot then shouted at Leibb, demanding that he leave the bathroom immediately. Leibb responded that he was “finishing up” and would be out shortly.
At that point, the pilot allegedly decided to break the lock on the door, force it open, and drag Leibb out, with his pants still down, exposing himself to Sebbag, the flight crew, and other passengers. The pilot then reportedly shoved both men back to their seats, threatening them with arrest and making disparaging remarks about “how Jews act.”
After the plane landed, six CBP officers boarded and escorted both men off the flight. They told Leibb, “This isn’t county or state. We are Homeland. You have no rights here.”
United Airlines, which later arranged a free flight to New York City for both passengers after the incident, declined to comment to the Associated Press.
Hilton Beckham, the CBP Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, told the AP: “CBP Officers responded to reports of a disturbance on a flight at the request of the airline. Due to the ongoing litigation, we are unable to provide any further comment.”
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