We all recall the exciting story of the Flying Imams, Right?

6 Innocent Muslims board a plane, not acting suspicious at all, and they were horribly treated by a paranoid ignorant bigoted group of of hateful fight attendants.¹  Thats how they tell it.

Or was it 6 Imams that acted in a suspicious manner and a group of security minded people took action to ensure the safety of all.  Yea that sounds more like what happened. ²

Witness confirmed independently that they were acting weird, but investigations revealed no criminal action by them, nor did the investigation indicate that the police, cabin crew and airport officials acted at all unprofessionally.³

The Imams disagreed, lawyered up and claim intolerance and discrimination.⁴  Dennis Miller I think made the best response here.

So that was where things stood when this report of another eye witness surfaced.⁵  At first he seemed to support the Imams:

When I got on the plane I wanted to see where they are sitting and as soon as we boarded the plane I noticed other than the man who was sitting in first class in the first row the rest of them were all sitting in the aisle seat?

I had been hoping that when I sit down I have a seat next to one of them. I probably talked to him 20-30 minutes.

Clearly he noticed nothing suspicious.  A Smoking gun?  Proof of bigotry?  Not really:

They said something to the effect of I want you to stand up and exit the plane. I want you to walk in front of me.

I knew that they knew. I think they (the flight crew) handled it well. I felt, you know, very confident in their performance. You wonder how if you were in that situation how it would all work out.

I felt like everybody did their job they did it well and they did it professionally, courteously and really came together, as an observer fairly, seamlessly.

I thought it was handled well…everyone’s rights were respected and I think the rights of these Muslim Imams were. There was no belittling, no degrading, no harassment, and no reason to be embarrassed.”

There is only one logical conclusion I can make regarding this:

The Imams may or may not have done anything to warrant suspicion, that is something people on both sides will debate for days to come.

But clearly the authorities and the flight crew acted with professionalism, courtesy and respect.

Everyone agrees to that…except the Imams.⁶

1. I may be exagerating… [back]
2. Read the history here and here… [back]
3. See the conclusions here… [back]
4. Cha-Ching!  [back]
5. Hat Tip Hot Air [back]
6. Cha-Ching!  [back]

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