NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Southwest Airlines flight that departed Nashville over the weekend was forced to make an emergency landing in Atlanta, but at least one passenger who was on board says the frightening accounts spreading across social media don’t reflect what actually happened.
Southwest Airlines Flight 2094 departed Nashville International Airport and was scheduled to land in Florida shortly after 10 p.m. Less than an hour after takeoff, the flight was diverted to Atlanta.
Amanda Parrish, a Nashville resident who was on the flight headed to the beach with her family, said her mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario.
“My first thought was, given what’s going on in the world, it’s hijack, or it’s a bomb threat,” Parrish said.
Parrish said it was more than an hour after landing when armed officers boarded the plane and removed a passenger.
“I mean, the guy, literally, in my opinion, was caught 100% off guard that they were coming for him,” Parrish said.
Parrish was sitting three rows ahead of the man who was removed. The FBI and Atlanta Police later determined there was no credible threat, and no charges were filed.
Despite that, the story spread rapidly on social media, with claims that the man was a terrorist who had been threatening the President. Parrish says that is simply not true.
“When I started seeing all the comments — ‘this terrorist should have been arrested, he was saying death to America, death to Trump’ — I’m like, no, he was not,” Parrish said.
Parrish said the couple sitting next to the man told her he had been praying.
“She said he was reading something on his phone, which was probably Muslim prayer. She said it was like a prayer, and he had a timer on his phone, which made (them) uncomfortable,” Parrish said.
Tennessee’s American Muslim Advisory Council says setting an alarm to pray five times a day is common, especially during Ramadan, when Muslims break their fast after sunset.
For Parrish, the bigger concern is not what happened on the plane — it’s what happened on social media afterward.
“I am not an activist; I’m not an agitator. I’m nothing. But I do feel, when I feel like people have been wrongly targeted — whether young, old, rich, or poor — it doesn’t matter. I try to do unto others as they would do unto me. So that’s all I can say,” Parrish said.
Southwest has since released a statement apologizing to customers for what it called a “misunderstanding” and the significant delay.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions following the war with Iran. Community leaders pointed to a recent post from U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who wrote that “Muslims don’t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie.”
The American Muslim Advisory Council responded with a statement saying Ogles “appears to be attempting to distract constituents from his failure to deliver meaningful solutions on issues that Tennesseans care about — such as affordable healthcare and rising costs — by resorting to hateful rhetoric about Muslim Americans and immigrants.”
“The use of bigoted and racially coded tropes is not only irresponsible, it echoes language that has historically been used to marginalize many communities, including African Americans,” the council said.
The council also addressed the constitutional question of religious-based restrictions, saying courts have already made clear that banning people from the United States on the basis of religion is unconstitutional, and that efforts to revive such ideas are “not serious policy proposals — they are political theater.”
The council warned that anti-Muslim sentiment is likely to grow as the conflict with Iran continues.
“You cannot wage war without dehumanizing your perceived enemy. Already, Secretary of War Hegseth has used dangerous biblical narratives used by Christian Nationalists to justify the war, pitting the U.S. against Muslims. Anti-Muslim rhetoric from the far right, Christian Nationalists, and MAGA supporters have been the norm for some time now. The question now is whether others across the political spectrum will stand up and speak out unequivocally against Islamophobia. Turning on your neighbor in times of crisis is not a religious value in any tradition. If your understanding of Judeo-Christian values centers on upholding human dignity and human rights, then those values align closely with Islamic principles. However, if those values are invoked to justify a genocide or a war for profit, then we fundamentally differ in our understanding of what those values represent. The broader anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant climate at the federal level has allowed bigotry to run rampant across the U.S. Regardless of political rhetoric, Tennessee is home to a vibrant and longstanding Muslim community who have lived, worked, and contributed to this state for generations. We were here long before Congressman Ogles was elected, and we will continue to be part of Tennessee long after his time in office,” the council said.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@NewsChannel5.com
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