Safira Allen was sitting on the flight when a flight attendant came up to her and told her she would have to exit the plane because she had been denied boarding. Allen had apparently missed the earlier Spirit flight she had booked and hopped on this one.
Instead of leaving the plane, Allen decided to stream an 18-minute rant on Facebook Live. It quickly went viral.
In the footage, which was widely shared on Facebook, Allen says that there "ain't nothing spiritual about this plane" and that she won't deplane until she is reimbursed for her flight. According to Allen, she missed an earlier flight with Spirit Airlines because the gate closed 20 minutes earlier than it was supposed to. She then seemingly bought a new ticket for the flight she was currently on, when she was told she had been denied boarding. It is unclear why she was being denied boarding on the flight.
"I'm not getting off this plane. Girl, let me share this because this not right. How are y'all going to inconvenience me. I get on the plane and y'all telling me I have to get off? No. Today I'm not," Allen says in her Facebook Live recording.
"Y'all going to use Jesus' name, the Holy Spirit? No, that's got to change; y'all need to be called something else, y'all need to change y'all name, because nothing Holy Spirit about this airline, no. But y'all say y'all represent God. Y'all need to quit playing with Jesus, and I'm not getting off this plane," Allen is heard saying.
"I'm sitting on this airline and [the flight attendant is] telling me I have to get off this plane. I'm trying to go to Las Vegas. She took my boarding pass that I paid for… After you made me miss my flight because you closed your gate early, I'm not getting off," she continued.
A few minutes later, a flight attendant asks all the passengers on the plane to get off.
As passengers walk off the plane, Allen insults multiple people, pointing to the exit and saying, "Yeah y'all go that way. Hell's that way."
When some Asian passengers pass by her, she says, "Konnichiwa, welcome to America," before proceeding to laugh out loud.
Once all the passengers deplaned, she then insults the pilot and the cabin crew, too, until a police officer enters the plane.
"I'm the police supervisor. From what I understand you have been denied boarding and you are not going on this flight," the officer tells Allen.
"I don't care about boarding the flight, I care about making a difference," she responds.
After being repeatedly asked by the police officer to pick up her belongings and exit the plane, she eventually does so. The footage shows her walking back into the airport, but the camera turns off once the officer asks her to put her hands behind her back to arrest her.
On her Facebook page, Allen wrote on Tuesday, "…Then the Cities finest Atlanta Police Department takes me to jail for Trespassing & beating up a cop. When SGT Baker (the white cop who said ‘ain't NO CUZ') knocked the phone out my hand PUSHED me down hella hard & called me a ‘Black B****'… all while my left hand is dripping blood from the carpet burn & my left knee is out of my socket. Then the guard asks: are you really smiling on your booking photo. My Response: ‘S*** I'm INNOCENT! Fam… why Do I need to mean mug on a booking photo?'"
Allen's profile picture on Facebook says, "Rosa Parks wasn't getting up and Safira Allen wasn't getting off! #HoldUpCuz."