DAmato Removed From Plane After Urging Walkout Over Delays
Alfonse M. D’Amato, the former United States senator, has given many speeches in his day, trying to rouse his peers into action. Not all have worked.
But of all those failed exhortations, none — at least, none known so far — have occurred on a JetBlue Airways flight, ending with Mr. D’Amato’s removal from the plane.
Mr. D’Amato, 79, who represented New York as a Republican from 1981 to 1999, was removed from a JetBlue flight in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after causing a conflict, according to the airline.
The episode, captured in part on cellphone videos taken by passengers, unfolded on a New York-bound airplane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Monday, days after a gunman killed five people.
The JetBlue flight, which had been scheduled to depart at about 1:40 p.m. Monday, would not take off until about 8 p.m., after delays. During the delay, Mr. D’Amato stood in the aisle and urged the other passengers to walk out with him, according to video of the episode.
“We can still speak in this country,” Mr. D’Amato said in the video. “I am making an appeal to all you people. Stand up for what’s right and walk out with me.”
At least one unidentified passenger stood to join him. “I’m going,” he said.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/nyregion/damato-removed-from-plane-after-urging-walkout-over-delays.html?
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