Tag Archives: fire

We don't hear so often from Utah Man, but we sure do hear a lot of airplane nightmares. Thankfully, this intoxicated troublemaker didn't make it past boarding before being arrested for assaulting a JetBlue employee. Unfortunately, his 8-year-old son watched as his white father screamed obscenities and called out for the NAACP. It will surprise no one to learn that this went down in Florida. Utah man Brandon Strong was at the Orlando International Airport when, according to police, he began harassing a woman. When that alleged verbal harassment escalated to the point of him calling the woman a “c–t,” JetBlue stepped in. JetBlue employees informed him that he would not be permitted to board the flight. According to a sworn statement by one of those employees, this is when Strong got physical. Strong allegedly became physically confrontational “I explained to him that he could not travel and asked for his son,” the JetBlue employee writes. “At that point,” the affidavit continues. “He pressed his iPad against my chest and pushed me.” The employee writes: “I pushed his hands away from my chest, and he attempted to grab me.” “We wrestled,” the affidavit says. “And myself and a couple other customers tried to restrain him.” The operative word there is that they tried to restrain the man. Police say that there were multiple 911 calls about the incident. (It turns out that people really take notice when you're violent at an airport — who knew?) According to Officer Jason Hajek's affidavit, Strong was very obviously intoxicated. Hajek wrote that he “could detect the strong odor of the impurities of alcohol on his breath.” Brandon Strong allegedly continued to resist, and was warned that he would be subdued. Strong was warned that he might be met with a “chemical spray.” Hajek writes that, with a crowd surrounding him, he fired “one short burst” of pepper spray at Strong. Pepper spray is a potent chemical weapon, and the Fire Department was called to offer treatment to those in the crowd who were impacted. During the scuffle, Strong yelled “Where is the NAACP?!” The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is America's oldest civil rights organization. While the NAACP has addressed many topics, including excessive force by police, it is unclear why Strong felt that the organization was relevant. For one thing, this wasn't a beating for jaywalking. This appears to have been a case of police putting a stop to his behavior. For another thing, Brandon Strong is a 45-year-old white man. Anyway, Strong was arrested for disorderly intoxication, resisting officers, and assaulting police. On a funny note, Strong referred to the initial JetBlue employee as “Paul Bart Mall Cop.” Unlike the film by that name, that is objectively funny. On a considerably less funny note, the man's 8-year-old son witnessed this. One can only imagine what else he has seen from this man. JetBlue looked after the boy and his mother was contacted and informed that he would be transported to Utah. Honestly, from the looks of this video, this situation might have been a lot worse had bystanders not stepped in.

Original post:
Drunk White JetBlue Passenger Calls Out for NAACP While Being Subdued