On the morning of Saturday, November 14, 2020, founder of Muslim Girl, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, boarded an American Airlines flight, only to have its staff ask her to leave the plane after a man in first class complained about feeling uncomfortable with her on the flight.
Police boarded the plane to have her removed, and she insisted both she and the man who complained about her be removed for questioning together. According to the Facebook Live video Amani shared, you can hear the officer tell her that they were going to de-board the entire plane whether she complied with them or not. Other passengers began to yell at staff to have the man removed as well, and at least one stated both needed to get off.
Amani explained that while she was going through security check, a white man became frustrated while waiting behind her as she removed her shoes. He stated that he was first class with TSA pre-check privileges, and did not have to wait behind her. Once on board the same flight, the man complained to American Airlines staff, stating that she made him uncomfortable.
She tweeted about the experience.
Another passenger who was sitting in the aisle behind Amani also taped the exchange and posted on Twitter.
At the time of this publishing, Amani was still detained, and it was unknown what she was being charged with.