'The Reverend' Jesse Jackson is predictably on the case. He is sometimes retained for a fee as a 'consultant' in settlements of alleged victimization claims involving diversity issues. We'll see if Emirates pays him off this time.
“This is an egregious and ugly situation,” Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, said after meeting Friday afternoon with the battered passenger, David Ukesone, and his family at PUSH headquarters.
The wounds from the restraints around Mr. Ukesone’s wrists and ankles have yet to fully heal and were clearly visible during his meeting at PUSH more than a week after the Jan. 23 flight. Upon landing, Mr. Ukesone was not charged and was rushed to a Chicago hospital where he spent four days.
“He was sick, not dangerous,” Rev. Jackson said.
Rev. Jackson contacted Emirates Airlines Friday to schedule a meeting with company officials as soon as possible to resolve “the situation and to make sure it never happens again.” Rev. Jackson is also scheduling meetings with the ambassadors from Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.
“This should never have happened,” Rev. Jackson said. “It was excessive and unnecessary violence against anyone, not to mention a 74-year-old man on his first international flight.”
https://rainbowpush.org/blog/media-a...y-rainbow-push
And of course, the alleged perp has filed the customary shakedown lawsuit:
Thursday, February 01, 2018 06:40PM
CHICAGO (WLS) --
A 71-year-old man who says he was bound and beaten on an international flight to Chicago is suing Emirates Airlines.
In the lawsuit, filed this week, lawyers for David Ukesone said he was tied down for eight hours without food or water on a flight from Dubai last week.
Ukesone claims the incident started when the crew members told him he sat in the wrong seat.
The airline said the crew restrained Ukesone because of unruly behavior.
Ukesone said he spent four days in the hospital after the flight.
Man who says he was bound, beaten on flight sues Emirates Airlines | abc7chicago.com
A troubling narrative from an eyewitness:
Nigerian immigrant David Ukesone said he was assaulted and detained for sitting in the wrong seat on his first international flight. He said he was bound and beaten by the airline staff.
But Chad Birkholz was a passenger on the plane and says he was sitting one row ahead of Ukesone and across the aisle.
Birkholz says Ukesone had been acting erratically and was pacing back-and-forth, holding his briefcase for nearly two hours before he suddenly grabbed a child.
“I was watching a movie and looked over in the area he was pacing,” Birkholz said. “And the next thing I know, I see him picking up a child and the mother immediately jumping up trying to get her child back.”
Birkholz says Ukesone then slipped into business class, where he caused a commotion.
“He was up there and started to yell and scream,” Birkholz said. “He eventually bit a passenger, broke a finger of one of the flight attendants and had to be restrained.”
Ukesone spent the remainder of the flight, about 8 hours, in restraints.
Witness says passenger was acting erratically before being detained on flight | WGN-TV