On July 15, in an Instagram post, Terrell Davis spoke out after he was handcuffed and escorted off a United Airlines plane by the FBI and law enforcement. Davis was a Denver Broncos running back from 1995 to 2001 who was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2017 for rushing more than 2,000 yards in a season
Mr. Davis, an African American or African man, was wrongfully handcuffed in front of his wife and children and all the other passengers and removed from a United Airlines flight after it landed in Santa Ana, California, on July 13.
In an email he wrote to NPR, Mr. Davis said the incident began during the beverage service when his son asked for a cup of ice. The flight attendant with the beverage cart either didn’t hear or ignored his son’s request and moved on. Mr. Davis said he lightly tapped (verified by other passengers on the plane) the arm of the attendant to get his attention to repeat his son’s request for a cup of ice. The attendant turned to him and shouted, “Don’t hit me,” and then moved hurriedly toward the front of the plane.
Mr. Davis thought nothing further about the incident except that the flight attendant was incredibly rude and blatantly wrong.
Mr. Davis said he had no further contact with the flight attendant for the rest of the flight. Immediately after the plane landed in Santa Ana, FBI agents and local law enforcement officers handcuffed and removed him from the plane.
The FBI stated that Mr. Davis was completely cooperative; they interrogated and detained him for 45 minutes to an hour. The FBI originally said that they detained an individual responding to a report that an incident occurred aboard the flight requiring investigation. After Mr. Davis was released from custody the FBI agents profusely apologized and asked if there was anything they could do for him.
United Airlines said the flight attendant was removed from duty and told Mr. Davis’ lawyer, Parker Steiner, that they wished to apologize.
This happened in the United States, where Trump and his supporters say there isn’t racism. Beware Black men and women, and all people of color.
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