A retired black cop has sued American Airlines, alleging that he was falsely accused of human trafficking his white and younger wife on their honeymoon flight to Florida thanks to a dereliction of duty by flight attendants onboard.
Retired Black Cop And His White Wife Detained On Their Honeymoon Flight After Flight Attendants Suspect Human Trafficking
I’ve never been a big fan of “see something, say something” because, over and over again, it has led to very suspect race-based assumptions.
In September 2022, Anthony Williams, 63, and Katsiaryna Shasholka, 34, boarded American Airlines flight 2408 from Phoenix (PHX) to Miami (MIA). The couple had just married and were on their honeymoon flight.
But according to their lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, a fellow passenger became “suspicious” of them, reporting the mixed-race couple to flight attendants with the concern that the younger white woman was being transported against her will.
Rather than interview the couple to personally ascertain if there were signs of human trafficking, the flight attendant reported the suspicion to the pilot, who alerted authorities. When the plane landed in Miami, the two were detrained.
“Upon landing, our clients were falsely imprisoned by American Airlines employees who escorted them off of the plane and were made to wait, confused and embarrassed, as the other passengers deplaned and walked by them.”
Miami-Dade police interviewed and released the couple, but both now complain of:
- mental pain and suffering
- sleeplessness
- paranoia
- panic attacks
- fear
- anxiety
- embarrassment
Williams reached out to American Airlines the day after the flight to file a complaint, but says he never heard back…leading to the lawsuit. The couple are seeking compensatory and punitive damages plus attorneys’ fees.
Flight attendants are trained to look for a number of signs to identify victims of trafficking, including:
- Is the person disoriented or confused, or showing signs of mental or physical abuse?
- Does the person have bruises in various stages of healing?
- Is the person fearful, timid, or submissive?
- Does the person show signs of having been denied food, water, sleep, or medical care?
- Is the person in the company of someone to whom he or she defers? Or someone who seems to be in control of the situation, e.g., where they go or who they talk to?
- Does the person appear to be coached on what to say?
These are not race-based or age-based factors and none appear present here. Per the lawsuit, the flight attendants did not even engage in conversation with the couple!
I reject the “better safe than sorry” canard without identifying several of the factors above. We could virtually eliminate crime in the USA if everyone was put under house arrest….but liberty is a paramount value in our system of justice.
If Williams’ account is correct, this matter is all the more egregious because flight attendants failed to even approach the couple to assess the matter themselves. Instead, they took the word of a passenger who seemed to have had a problem with the mixed-race couple for reasons that are likely nefarious.
CONCLUSION
A dear client of mine, in his late 70s, just married his long-time girlfriend, in her early 30s. They are a mixed-race couple. And they love each other and I care deeply for both of them. They are frequent flyers and I shudder to think about the whispers of folks around them when they travel. Or my pastor, who is black, and married a Korean-American woman. What kind of slanderous innuendo amongst mettlesome nitwits goes on when he travels with his wife, which is also very frequent?
Folks, the problem here was indeed that the flight attendants failed to show any common sense. But the problem was also the passenger(s) who complained in the first place. A mixed-race couple is not an automatic warrant for additional scrutiny. Nor is age difference absent other triggering factors like signs of duress. A couple enjoying their honeymoon were needlessly hassled and are suing American Airlines. I hope they win big…I reject “better safe than sorry” in the “land of the free and home of the brave.”
Hat Tip: View From The Wing
Why would the flight attendants ever confront a passenger ? “Are you a human trafficker?” “Are you being held against your will ?” They likely followed protocol of alerting the local authorities.
This is likely the last you will hear of this story.
I’ve witnessed human trafficking before and the children sometimes look terrified. When I report it to my employer I get the response would you like to learn more about the signs of human trafficking? Click here to be connected with human trafficking organization xyz. They could care less but this is rather just a legal smoke screen to protect themselves.
Obviously, they are not going to ask questions like that. But a flight attendant could observe if the woman looked troubled or asked if she wanted a beverage to see if the man answered for her or did not let her speak…or see if he accompanied her to the lavatory. Or observe what she was doing…
On what basis did the FAs report this couple? I want to know…
Reminds me Judy Foster’s line :” Beware silence of the lambs”. Regrettably,the law is clear,reporting any suspicion of abuse is exempted from liability.
1. I think this is more an age difference issue than a race issue. Still society can’t really have it both ways, complain about people speaking up and complain when someone is trafficed, gets ganged raped, and bruatally murdered, and looks back and goes well look at all these opportunities people had to say something and no one did.
Also, lets be honest, this guy is double her age, your example of you friends is a 40 year ago gap, bill belicheck and his girl have a 50 year gap. You know the common denominator? $$$$$, cold hard cash! Money! You don’t see some broke 65 year old with a 25 year old, do you. I a not judging, when i am 75 I want to be deep into a 25 year old, trust me on that. I tell my teenage daughter all the time, just as easy to fall in love with a rich person as it is a poor one and life with money is much easy than not, and if you marry someone who is old and probably not going to be around don’t sign a bs prenup ao you get that $$$.
Not everything is about race and lets call a spade a spade, young women are only with men who are older than their father’s and approaching their grandfather’s age for one reason!
“You don’t see some broke 65 year old with a 25 year old, do you.” Bingo! LOL!
You can’t train ignorance. And many of these U.S. based FA’s are just that. In many ways they are the ones being trafficked – into performing skills they are clearly not ever going to understand or be able to perform.
If this happened in 2022, why is it just now becoming news? Also, if that is their real picture, I don’t really see the woman as white and also don’t see the age difference. Stupid AA.
They just filed the lawsuit last week, presumably ahead of any SOL deadline.
Not sure if I agree with headline.
It’s likely the passenger was profiled not because he is a black man traveling with a white woman but he is traveling with a European woman 1/2 his age.
She doesn’t look like a teenager to me…
“Anthony Williams, 63, and Katsiaryna Shasholka, 34”
She is Russian. Of course there’s some scam going on. All Russians are liars, cheats and thugs.
She is Belarus, not Russian. A different language, not even similar to Russian, they look different too. Have you been in Belarus or in Russia, Juan?
It wasn’t human trafficking, he simply purchased her for muchos $$$.
Slavery is more the word 😉 albeit with consent.
She’s just hooked on the BBC, nothing to see here.
Just curious as to how the flight attendants should “assess the matter themselves?” You mean like directly ask the female if she is being trafficked? Or ask the ubiquitous question, “is everything okay?” and she could just easily say “yes.”
I don’t see the problem with handing off the situation to law enforcement professionals, just like they did. And I actually wouldn’t be surprised if doing that isn’t in their training manual, rather than directly engaging.
I answered that above.