‘Go to hell': Passenger booted off flight after confronting Texas governor over anti-gay views

[marmar]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was in New York promoting his home state of Texas, but maybe New Yorkers weren’t quite on board.

As he was boarding a flight home Tuesday night, a man approached him, shook his hand, then cursed him out because of Abbott’s vocal opposition to gay marriage.

“I hope you (expletive) go to hell because of your stance on gay marriage,” the 32 year old told him, later adding, “I’m going to see you on the plane,” according to the Austin American Statesman.

The man, who was not identified, was instead pulled off the flight and given a hotel room and a new flight departing Wednesday, the paper reported. The incident alarmed other passengers waiting to board flights at the Port Authority. Abbott was waiting with his family and staffers.

Abbott, who was the state attorney general before he was elected governor, has been a vocal opponent to same-sex marriage. ................(more)

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/go-to-hell-passenger-booted-off-flight-after-confronting-texas-governor-over-anti-gay-views/

[mnhtnbb]

1. Gosh, what a great new idea for getting a free extra night in NY.

all for the fun of telling one of these bigots what an a$$hole he is to his face!

[el_bryanto]

2. If he actually said "I'm going to see you on the plane"

Than . . . I would think that the airline did the right thing.

Bryant

[wheniwasincongress]

4. I agree

it sounded potentially threatening. Just as if he had said "I'll be coming down to your office to see you" or "this isn't the last you'll see of me." The airline and apparently Abbott's security did the right thing.

[lame54]

22. except for paying for his room...

for threatening him they should have just kicked him to the curb

[Buzz Clik]

27. +1

[greytdemocrat]

29. + 2 nt

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Boy, I Was Expecting A Reverse Storyline

I thought it was going to be a crazy bigot attacking the governor. Not sure it's productive to seem unhinged when you're on the winning side. No matter how angry he was before, his side won.

[cwydro]

5. Yeah, it was a stupid assholish move.

I'm surprised the airline gave him the free stay.

[Paladin]

6. I wish Abbott ran into such face-to-face opposition more often.

Maybe he wouldn't be pimping to the drooling right wing in Texas on such a non-stop basis.

[Daemonaquila]

8. Making their lives suck is the least people should do.

Rethugs live in their little echo chambers. They live behind their security, their staffers, their gated communities, their secured offices, their tinted-window cars, and their fawning rethug sycophants with access. Oh noes - he had to deal with someone's unpleasant reaction to his politics! Yet the favorite rethug trick is to put people's personal information in public (see a zillion abortion staffers getting their faces pasted up on the web, or the stupid cake bakers who got slapped by the court) because they fear the power of individual harassment and therefore want to inflict it on others. So, let's just return the favor.

[Paladin]

9. My sentiments exactly. (nt)

[cwydro]

16. Yes, let's act like a bunch "rethugs", as you call them.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

[cwydro]

15. You really think that would make a difference,

or make him change his mind?

I don't.

[Paladin]

17. It's worth a try.

Until we confront hyper-conservatives like Abbott in a way that gets their attention and puts them on notice of an active resistance to their policies, we deserve the treatment we're getting.

[cwydro]

19. I think they're aware of an "active resistance" given the recent supreme court ruling.

And no one deserves poor treatment, no matter what.

Put that way, I assume you think the slaves deserved the treatment they received because they did not get in their "owners'" faces?

[Paladin]

20. Are you accusing me of supporting slavery? Because I'm a critic of Greg Abbott?

Fuck you where you breathe.

[cwydro]

23. That's not at all what I said.

I'm not even sure how you got that out of what I posted.

Just an FYI, personal attacks are frowned upon on DU.

I won't alert, but try that with some others and you may end up with a hidden post.

Tsk, tsk.

[Javaman]

24. hey, you might wish to delete your reply before you get alerted and dinged for that over the top

response.

just sayin'.

[cwydro]

26. I won't alert on him,

but if personal attacks are his style - well, he'll learn soon enough.

[petronius]

13. Me too - as reported, it sounds like keeping him off the flight was correct

I wish they'd named the airline; I'd like to know who has this consideration and generosity with the free hotel rooms...

to Anonymous Air!

[Bluenorthwest]

7. Texas still allows discrimination aginst LGBT in both housing and employment. That's winning?

If you say so.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. Picking Nits Again?

The guy didn't rant about that did he? He was talking about gay marriage. Geez, why do we feel that castigating allies is a sound strategy?

[Real_PhillBert]

11. Sounds to me like that is exactly what happened, verbally at least.

Sounds to me like that is exactly what happened, verbally at least.

Bigot - noun - A person who is intolerant of those holding different opinions.

I am not defending the Governors opinions on the issue of marriage, I am very much so in support of marriage equality. I simply hate it when people just broad stroke everyone who disagrees with them as a bigot.

Although I do agree that this kind of confrontation may not be the best method for swaying peoples opinion to our side.

[LiberalElite]

10. .

[dembotoz]

12. Pleased with airline restraint.

No headlines

No awful pr

[KamaAina]

18. "The incident alarmed other passengers waiting to board flights at the Port Authority"?

Imagine how alarmed they would have been if someone had told them the Port Authority was a bus station!

The Port Authority of NY & NJ, complete with Krispy Kreme's kronies, does control the three NYC-area airports.

[alcibiades_mystery]

21. That was my thought!

Raw Story fact checking, at it again!

[GoneOffShore]

25. The guy who was "pulled off the flight" has a friend on Facebook

who actually gave an account of what really happened forthwith, and I quote:

It didn't go down as described in the article by Abbott's communications director. There was no profanity and no veiled threat of "I will see you on the plane". I know this because I am friends with the person that approached him and I have spoken to him directly about what happened. He did firmly say "you are going to hell for your stance on gay marriage". He also said "I have a ticket on this flight" as part of a verbal exchange with Abbott's people - not as a threat. Abbott's people spun it to their advantage and now my friend is getting all sorts of blow back based solely on what Abbott's people said happened. My friend isn't talking to the media because he doesn't want conservative extremists hunting him (like they do). Greg Abbott is a giant baby that didn't like being called on the carpet so he used his power and authority to silence my friend. Very different that what is portrayed here.

https://www.facebook.com/TheRawStory?fref=ts - Scroll down to the Greg Abbot story and see the first comment. I've removed the guy's name.

[yardwork]

28. That would explain the airline's reaction.

If it had happened as Abbott said, I think that the man would have been arrested.

The fact that the airline put him on another flight and didn't call security tends to corroborate this version.