JetBlue Kicks 2 Off Flight After They Allegedly Accost Ivanka Trump
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Ivanka Trump was apparently accosted by another passenger on a JetBlue flight departing John F. Kennedy Airport on Thursday.
Matt Lasner, a Hunter College professor, said on Twitter that his husband calmly "expressed displeasure" about Trump and her family being on the flight. Lasner alleges JetBlue staff overheard and kicked them off the plane.
TMZ first reported that a passenger screamed at the president-elect's daughter, "Your father is ruining the country," and "Why is she on our flight. She should be flying private."
A TMZ photo showed Trump sitting in a center coach seat aboard a commercial flight from JFK to San Francisco around 10 a.m.
Trump's Secret Service detail never got involved, WCBS 880's Myles Miller reported.
JetBlue issued a statement saying, "The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If the crew determines that a customer is causing conflict on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane, especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of escalation during flight. In this instance, our team worked to re-accommodate the party on the next available flight."
"I think he's allowed to say what he wants. Free speech, we have amendments, right? He should not be kicked off," JetBlue passenger Nadiy Shapira told CBS2's Ali Bauman.
It appears the passengers hatched their plan to confront Trump from the moment he saw her and her husband, Jared Kushner, in the JetBlue terminal. Earlier in the morning, Lasner wrote on Twitter that his husband was trying to chase the couple down to harass them.
"Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them. #banalityofevil," the tweet read.
Lasner has since deleted his Twitter account.
With one of the busiest travel weekends of the year approaching, there is really no time for any flight delays. Trump's flight took off less than an hour later, and JetBlue told CBS2 its team worked to accommodate the other party on the next available flight.
"People shouldn't be hostile to other travelers. Everybody's stressed out enough over the holidays," Mary Harrington, of Larchmont, said.
Lasner's new flight is expected to land Thursday evening in California, where camera crews will certainly be waiting.
The Trump transition team and U.S. Secret Service declined comment.
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