“Shallow, uneducated and ignorant.” That’s how some people describe what happened over the weekend when four Muslims were denied their flights: two in New York and two in Memphis. North American Imams Federation Chairman Dr. El Tayeb Abuelyaman, speaking on behalf of the four passengers, says “Just because of my name, just because I’m Muslim, it doesn’t mean that I’m a terrorist.”
All of the men were headed here, to Charlotte, for an imam conference. Imams are leaders similar to a pastor or priest. The story goes that the pilot on the flight from Memphis made the call to kick Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghoul off the plane. That was an Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight, an affiliate of Delta.
The men were re-booked on a later flight.
In New York, it’s unclear who made the decision to not allow 61-year-old Al Amin Abdul Latif and his son, 35-year-old Abur Bakar Abdul Latif to fly Friday.
“Both were cleared by security, by TSA,” says their attorney, Mo Idilbi.
The father was never allowed on the first plane. He was told there was a problem with his birth date. He was then denied on Saturday when he tried to fly again. He ended up driving to Charlotte. The son was removed from the first plane by police in New York but was allowed to fly on Saturday.
“Is it now unacceptable to fly while Muslim?” wonders Idlibi. He represents all four men and says they will sue the airlines. “We are seeking accountability at this point and that will include compensation,” he says.
American Airlines tells FOX Charlotte “There was no ill intent on the part of any of our employees involved in this. It was a situation that just got very complicated very quickly.”
Delta also released a statement saying they take safety and security very seriously.
A retired pilot tells FOX it is the pilot’s prerogative to determine who he will fly with or without, but there must be a legitimate security concern. He suspects these two instances will be reviewed and the pilots may face disciplinary actions.”
“We can’t have pilots make decisions about passengers based solely on their appearances. That’s not the way America does things,” says Idlibi.
The attorney says all of the men have flown before and have never been on a “no fly” list. American Airlines tells us “TSA is looking into the matter.” A TSA rep tells us the decision to deny boarding was not made by the TSA.