On Tuesday, September 26 at Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore, Maryland, Pregnant 46-year-old, Anila Daulatzai, was forcefully removed from her flight, she has publicly stated that she was profiled to her being a Muslim.
Anila, a college professor who currently holds a position at the at the Maryland Institute College of Art, had a non-life-threatening dog allergy, this was used as a reason to drag her off a flight as authorities claims that she did not have the required documents to allow her to fly, even as Anila affirmed that her condition was not serious and shed be ok to fly.
On Wednesday, Anila's lawyer released a detailed statement of the incident, "Professor Daulatzai buckled her seat belt, turned on the overhead light, and started grading student papers. She was then approached by a series of Southwest representatives, and answered every question asked of her. She was never asked for medical certification, nor would she have needed to carry that, because her allergies are not life-threatening. Despite trying to convince the crew that she would be completely fine on the plane, she was asked by another Southwest representative to leave the plane. Shortly thereafter the Maryland Transportation Authority Police pulled her from her seat by her belt loop, dragged her through the aisle exposed with torn pants, and humiliated her for the world to see in a now viral video."
The Maryland Transportation Authority Police interrogated her after pulling her off the flight they accused of Anila of lying about her pregnancy with her first child and made racist remarks towards immigrants.
Her lawyer spoke of the pregnants professors continued suffering after the violent removal, "Professor Daulatzai suffered physical injuries and mental trauma, required emergency care at a local hospital, including for her pregnancy, and is under continuing medical care. Professor Daulatzai has also received hate mail, including racist messages and threats of further violence. There was an attempted break-in into her home. She has since left her home, fearing for her safety."
Southwest Airlines released a statement after the video went viral "We are disheartened by the way this situation unfolded and the Customer’s removal by local law enforcement officers, We publicly offer our apologies to this Customer for her experience and we will be contacting her directly to address her concerns.”
Whilst Maryland Transportation Authority Police stuck to their guns, maintaining, “Despite her clear attempt to resist a law enforcement officer, Ms. Daulatzai was professionally removed from the aircraft within the guidelines of the MDTA Police,”.
Anila Daulatzai received criminal charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order, disturbing the peace, obstructing and hindering a police officer, her lawyer insists the charges hold no merit.