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Flying imams incident

Incident where imams were removed from a flight

On November 20, 2006, 6:30 pm, six Muslim imams were removed from US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix, Arizona, at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, because several passengers and crew members became alarmed by what they felt was suspicious behavior. The airline has stated that the captain delayed takeoff and called airport security workers to ask the imams to leave the plane; the men refused, and that the captain then called police. The plane left without the imams on board about three hours later. The imams were arrested, questioned, and then released.

On July 24, 2009, U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery allowed a discrimination lawsuit filed by the imams to proceed, saying, "The right not to be arrested in the absence of probable cause is clearly established and, based on the allegations ... no reasonable officer could have believed that the arrest of the Plaintiffs was proper."

Identities

The six imams were: Didmar Faja, Mohamed Said Mitwaly Ibrahim, Marwan Sadeddin, Omar Shahin, Ahmad al-Shqeirat (also known as Ahmad Tafish Shqeirat), and Mahmoud Sulaiman. Ibrahim lives and works in Bakersfield, California, and the other five live and work in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

Alleged suspicious behavior

According to some passengers and flight staff, the actions of the imams included praying before the flight and allegedly traveling without any checked baggage on one-way tickets.

Shahin denied allegations of suspicious behavior; said everyone in the group had round-trip tickets (and that he has the documentation to prove it); that he asked for a seatbelt extension because he weighs 290 pounds (130 kg); and that the group conducted their sunset-time prayers in a quiet manner.

Aftermath

The day following the incident, Shahin, the spokesperson for the group, spoke to the press that had gathered when he returned to a US Airways ticket counter to buy new tickets for the group. He told media that the incident was "humiliating, the worst moment of my life," and asked, "To practice your faith and pray is a crime in America?" When US Airways would not issue him and the other imams new tickets he called for a boycott of the airline, and said, "I'm not going to stay silent... I came to this country to enjoy justice and freedom". He has said it is incorrect that any of the men had one-way tickets, and that he had alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the conference in order to prevent this kind of incident from occurring.

Another protest, organized by the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, took place on December 1, 2006, in front of US Airways headquarters. The spokesman for the group said: "We want to tell US Airways that second-class citizenship is not an option." Other speakers at the gathering included a Jewish leader, a Catholic cleric, and a Presbyterian pastor who told the crowd that the "Imams did nothing to merit their exclusion from the flight". A spokesman for the Muslim American Society said that several of the affected imams did not attend the gathering because they are shy about publicity, and had been humiliated.

One of the imams, al-Shqeirat, spiritual leader of the Islamic Community Center of Tempe, said in an interview that the imams were likely to file a discrimination lawsuit against US Airways, saying that "it was handled in an unprofessional way, and the decision (to remove them from the plane) was made by unprofessional people."

Muslim Congressman-elect Keith Ellison, who gave a talk on "Imams and Politics" at the meeting from which the flying imams were returning home, attempted to organize a meeting between US Airways executives, the Metropolitan Airports Commission, and other legislators and community members to discuss the incident.

Investigations by the airline, the Air Carrier Security Committee of the Air Line Pilots Association, and the Department of Homeland Security supported the actions of the airline and found no evidence that the men were removed from the airline due to religious discrimination because they were "merely praying," but rather for security reasons. A US Airways spokesperson said,

We've done what we typically do in a situation where there is a removal or some kind of customer service at issue.... We talked with crew members and passengers and those on the ground.... We found out the facts are substantially the same, and the imams were detained because of the concerns crew members had based on the behavior they observed, and from reports by the customers.... We're looking at it as a security issue and as a customer-service issue and where we might need to do outreach.

Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, sent a letter to the airline seeking a settlement agreement and said, "otherwise, the group is prepared to go to court." Awad told CNN, "This is very important. Otherwise we have no guarantees such incidents with US Airways and other airlines would not happen again." No information about the amount of damages sought was given.

On October 20, 2009, the "flying imams" and the air carrier settled out of court for an unknown amount.

Lawsuit

References

[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/22/us/22muslim.html?bl&ex=1164517200&en=24531ca1fa7314e1&ei=5087%0A "6 Imams Removed From Flight for Behavior Deemed Suspicious"] ''The New York Times'' November 22, 2006
link. (2006-12-02 , [[Richard Miniter]], ''[[New York Post]]'', December 2, 2006)
"Judge clears way for lawsuit by 6 imams arrested at Mpls. airport".
[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/traveloutdoors/2003442495_imams22.html "6 Muslim clerics removed from airliner urge boycott"] ''The Seattle Times'' November 22, 2006
link. (2011-06-22 , ''ABC News'', November 28, 2006)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061126022957/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15856333/site/newsweek/ Flying while Muslim] MSNBC.com
"Uproar follows imams' detention".
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061125175111/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15856333/site/newsweek/?nav=slate Flying while Muslim]
[http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1202imams1202.html Muslims, others protest:US Airways' removal of imams from flight called offensive]
"North American Imams Federation conference booklet".
[http://www.startribune.com/587/story/833707.html Ellison seeks meeting on removal of clerics] {{webarchive. link. (November 30, 2006)
(December 11, 2006). "Imams seek settlement with US Airways over removal from flight". CNN.
[http://www.startribune.com/191/story/1055656.html The real target of the 6 imams' 'discrimination' suit] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-03-25 , Katherine Kersten, [[Minneapolis Star Tribune]], March 14, 2007)
(August 1, 2007). "Imams won't sue airline passengers for removal". Associated Press.
Gregg Aamot. (August 1, 2007). "Imams drop passengers from lawsuit over removal from flight". Associated Press.
(October 20, 2009). "Imams Kicked off Flight Reach Settlement". CBS News.
(9 November 2009). "The Flying Imams Win".
(22 November 2006). "Imams thrown off US flight 'for praying'".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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