It looks like it doesn’t take a lot to scare airline passengers, as a Muslim man was kicked off of a flight after allegedly speaking Arabic on the phone to his mother and making them “uncomfortable.”

Adam Saleh, who is actually a YouTube star with over 2 million subscribers, was on a Delta Airlines flight to New York City early Wednesday morning, according to Fusion. Saleh claims that after being asked by a flight attendant to lower his voice during the call, he was asked to step off of the plane. That’s when he began to livestream his experience. 

“Guys, we spoke a different language on the plane, now we’re getting kicked out!” Saleh said on the first video. “This is 2016. Look, Delta Airlines are kicking us out as we spoke a different language.”

“Thank you so much, you guys are racist,” he said to passengers who waved and mockingly said goodbye as he walked off of the plane. “I cannot believe my eyes. I cannot believe it. I spoke a word of a different language and you said you feel uncomfortable?”

When the footage of Saleh’s experience went viral, many called his past works into question, especially his history of being a prankster and the exposure of a staged video from 2014 that he claimed was a “dramatization” of how NYPD officers discriminate against Muslims.

Given that no footage was captured of events leading up to Saleh exiting the plane, many are waiting for more details. However, Delta Airlines did release a statement to Fusion confirming that two customers were asked to leave a flight.

“Two customers were removed from this flight and later rebooked after a disturbance in the cabin resulted in more than 20 customers expressing their discomfort,” said Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant. “We’re conducting a full review to understand what transpired. We are taking allegations of discrimination very seriously; our culture requires treating others with respect.”

So, it’s clear that the ejection itself was legitimate and not a hoax of any sort, although there’s no confirmation of what caused it.

It should be noted that it doesn’t take much to be kicked off of a flight today.  To be honest, being brown and bearded appears to be all it takes.

Even an Italian mathematician was kicked off of a flight once for writing out equations and not feeling obligated to explain them to the woman sitting next to him.

Replacing One Problem With Another

This incident comes shortly after Delta worked to put their most recent racist incident behind them after a flight attendant refused to let a black doctor help a man who needed medical assistance. The flight attendant didn’t believe that she was a doctor and demanded credentials.

She was also extremely condescending, reportedly saying, “[W]e are looking for actual physicians or nurses or some type of medical personnel, we don’t have time to talk to you.”

After inviting Tamika Cross to Delta’s headquarters for a conversation and in-person apology, the company released a statement announcing a change in policy.

“As part of the review, Delta found that there is no legal or regulatory requirement upon the airline to view medical professional credentials,” read the statement, according to The Washington Post. “And, as it becomes more and more common for medical licenses to be verified online, physicians and nurses often do not carry a license with them and some states no longer issue wallet versions.”

Delta also plans to expand its inclusion and diversity training for its staff members next year to prevent these kinds of incidents from happening. Hopefully they’ll help passengers in Saleh’s position as well.

 

Image via Twitter