Passenger growls, shouts ‘Joe Biden’ at American Airlines attendant, video shows

An American Airlines passenger was arrested after a video showed him on a flight from California yelling and growling at crew.

Timothy Armstrong, 61, of Las Vegas, was arrested for disorderly conduct and public intoxication Monday afternoon after he was “being combative” on a flight from Los Angeles, according to a Salt Lake City Police Department news release.

Armstrong was recorded on video by Dennis Busch, who was also on the flight and said Armstrong told an Asian woman that she “didn’t belong here,” Fox 13 Now reported.

Armstrong was also filmed yelling “Joe Biden” at a flight attendant and growling at the crew, according to NBC News.

“After asking him to calm down the man went into a complete meltdown of racist, sexist and belligerent comments, culminating in his arrest at the gate,” Busch said, according to Fox 13 Now. “We were lucky to have such a well trained crew who kept their cool throughout the flight!”

American Airlines confirmed the incident to McClatchy News and said there were 162 people on board, including 6 crew members.

“The flight landed safely at SLC where local law enforcement removed the disruptive passenger from the aircraft. We thank our crew for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding,” the airline said in a statement.

This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Passenger growls, shouts ‘Joe Biden’ at American Airlines attendant, video shows."