After a United Airlines passenger was forcibly dragged off an allegedly overbooked United Airlines flight, United CEO released a statement that claimed David Dao was acting “disruptive and belligerent.” But newly surfaced video of the incident seems to undermine that description.
“I’m a physician and I have to work tomorrow at 8 o’clock,” Dao tells Chicago airport security officers in the video.
“No, I am not going,” he continues. “I am not going.”
The video, uploaded to Facebook by another passenger, shows Dao being fairly calm as he argued with security team members while simultaneously talking to an unknown person on his cellphone. In the video, Dao told the security team that they’ll have to “drag” him from the plane if they want to remove him.
INBOX: @united CEO sends letter to employees about United Express flight. pic.twitter.com/obVdl6G2E0
— Ryan Ruggiero (@RyanRuggiero) April 10, 2017
“Then drag me down,” Dao says to one of the officers, adding that he’d rather go to jail.
From The Huffington Post:
It’s possible that the confrontation became more heated between Dao and authorities before they pulled him from his seat. But other passengers on the plane can be heard arguing with authorities over Dao’s treatment as the horror unfolds.
“He just wanted to go home, had to work the next day and did not feel it was right to have to give up his seat, a seat he was already sitting in upon the plane,” Joya Cummings, who took the new video, said. “I was not concerned for my safety, nor that of my toddler’s or for my pregnancy until the police were called aboard our plane to remove him. I was worried about what a physical altercation would entail with us sitting directly behind him and if the officers were armed in a tiny, confined space.”
Watch the video below:
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