A United Airlines flight attendant was arrested for tapping the shoulder of a very rude woman, exposing how absurd Florida’s battery law is and also how intolerable speakerphone culture is in shared spaces.
United Flight Attendant Arrested After Shoulder Tap Over Loud Phone Call
A United Airlines flight attendant was arrested at Tampa International Airport (TPA) after a dispute with a fellow airline employee on a crew shuttle bus escalated into a battery charge. The incident occurred earlier this year, but body-camera footage released this week shows how a petty argument spiraled into handcuffs under Florida’s expansive definition of battery.
The confrontation began at an employee shuttle stop when a Cayman Airways agent was speaking loudly on her phone, using speakerphone. The United attendant objected and told her to stop. What followed was a verbal exchange that deteriorated quickly, including insults and accusations of racism.
The flight attendant said that when he told her she was being rude, she responded by calling him a “racist” and told him to “go f*ck yourself” while flipping him off. They both got on the employee bus.
On the bus, the United flight attendant admits to tapping on the woman’s shoulder to get her attention. Later, he followed her into the terminal to obtain identifying information so he could report her conduct to her employer. According to the Cayman Airways employee, he told her that he was going to get her fired and that President Trump would deport her.
Law enforcement was called, and under Florida law, any unwanted physical contact can constitute battery. Officers arrested him on the spot after he admitted to tapping her on the shoulder.
Here’s the police bodycam footage:
People Who Use Speakerphones In Public Are The Worst
People who talk loudly on speakerphones in airports, buses, and shuttles are the scum of the earth. Airports are already stressful, noisy environments. Forcing everyone around you to listen to your personal conversation is antisocial behavior and should be called out.
There is no universe in which blasting a phone call on speaker in a confined public space is acceptable. Use earbuds. Hold the phone to your ear. Or wait. If you choose none of those options, you should expect verbal pushback. What a rude, nasty woman.
And yet…
Florida’s Battery Law Is Ridiculous…But So Is The Flight Attendant
Florida’s battery statute is breathtakingly broad. Any intentional, unwanted physical contact qualifies, regardless of force or injury. That means a tap on the shoulder is treated the same as a shove or a punch.
This is not sensible lawmaking. It turns what I’d call “social friction” into criminal exposure. Police should not be arresting people over behavior that most adults would describe as mildly rude or awkward. If the legal system cannot distinguish between violence and trivial contact, it loses credibility…
All that said, the United flight attendant did himself no favors. Touching someone during an argument is a terrible idea. Following someone through the terminal to gather information so you can report them to their employer only makes a bad situation worse.
If his goal was to de-escalate, he failed spectacularly. If his goal was to assert authority, he chose exactly the wrong way to do it. He could have walked away, cooled off, and filed a report later. Instead, he escalated a minor annoyance into an arrest. And I do note the irony of him warning that Trump would deport her while wearing a BLM pin…
CONCLUSION
This incident represents a nexus of atrocious public behavior and an overreaching criminal statute. Florida’s battery law is far too broad and invites unnecessary escalation, but that does not excuse poor judgment by the flight attendant, who should have remembered the kindergarten lesson that we keep our hands to ourselves.
People should not be arrested over a shoulder tap, but that requires changing the law in Florida.
Hat Tip: PYOK
Her first accusation was “racism”? I’m shocked. She sounds like a sociopath. His union-appointed attorney will destroy her in the witness box. I hope she cries.
It’s Florida, and everyone knows why people live there. You get what you pay for….
She deserved to be slapped, not tapped on the shoulder. Horrible self-entitled piece of garbage who does not belong in this country, along with anyone else who takes loudly in their cellphone in public places.