PHILADELPHIA — A Penn State University associate sociology professor says she doesn’t know why her onboard speech about U.S.-Venezuela relations got her pulled off a flight in Miami.
Authorities say Karen Halnon is facing disorderly conduct and breach of peace charges for going on a rant and lighting a cigarette during a flight from Nicaragua to Miami on Saturday.
A passenger caught the rant on video. It shows Halnon lighting a cigarette and blaming it on another passenger. Flight attendants requested that police meet the flight in Miami, where Halnon was taken into custody.
Halnon lives outside Philadelphia. She says in a lengthy email sent after her return home that she was mistreated. She says all she did was speak out against U.S. treatment of Venezuela.
