A ridiculous video was uploaded to YouTube yesterday of a fight that broke out at a gate at DFW Airport earlier in the week. And by “fight” I really just mean a single idiotic drunk guy was making an a$$ of himself.
Note that the video contains strong language, so if you’re easily offended…
He goes off on a guy who’s filming him, who he apparently suspects is gay.
The guy in the cowboy hat asks the drunk idiot what he’s upset about, and if I’m understanding him correctly he responds “queers… is what I’m upset about. This faggot right here. Shove it up your ass, man, and see how that feels. You might get tickled. F#cking queer.”
And then he kicks the “suspected gay guy” in the nuts and tries to punch him.
Real classy. And while it of course doesn’t matter, I wonder if there’s any reason the nutty drunk suspected the other guy was gay, or if the pink shirt was just too metro for him?
On the plus side, it’s impressive how quickly other passengers responded to take him down, and how quickly police showed up (though if the police was that close by before, I’m not sure why they didn’t act sooner).
Then while the drunk dude is laying on the floor whoever he’s traveling with tells him that he started the fight. His response? “I punched him square in the f#cking mouth is what I did. Let me tell you the reason why I did. Because this is America. That’s why.”
Oh, ‘murica…
(Tip of the hat to @travelblawg)
A pity they were no super Chipsman around to stop the fight right away : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJeSJhb3Hc4&feature=player_detailpage#t=23
@Chuck, Brian and JW - since when is it a right to abuse someone at a public place? In most places, you'd be arerested for abusing and intimidating someone or, if not and the police are standing by, you'd at least be stopped before it turns into a fight. You wouldn't get away with that behavior for that long at a courthouse, or a hospital - why is an airport OK?
It's not "...
@Chuck, Brian and JW - since when is it a right to abuse someone at a public place? In most places, you'd be arerested for abusing and intimidating someone or, if not and the police are standing by, you'd at least be stopped before it turns into a fight. You wouldn't get away with that behavior for that long at a courthouse, or a hospital - why is an airport OK?
It's not " free speech" by any definition except the weird hybrid that allows people to yell anti gay slurs at a military funeral, but not at a court house. The police should have stepped in and removed the offender when he started to harass someone in an airport.
Actually fellas, threats and fighting words are not protected by the doctrine of free speech. Quoth the Supreme Court:
"There are certain well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem. These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or "fighting words" those that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach...
Actually fellas, threats and fighting words are not protected by the doctrine of free speech. Quoth the Supreme Court:
"There are certain well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem. These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or "fighting words" those that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality."
I'm not saying the police should have arrested him, but it's a murkier issue than you may realize
@Chuck - +1. The drunk guy's a jackass, but until he attacks the victim, I can't see any reason for the police to do anything.
@John,
As Chuck asked, what exactly should the police have done? There is no law that restricts that asshole's freedom to spout epithets. The police officer was there clearly to be available if things escalated to where a crime actually was committed to allow the officer to step in. And that's precisely what happened - he and other passengers jumped in as soon as the assault took place, and fortunately the victim has every bit...
@John,
As Chuck asked, what exactly should the police have done? There is no law that restricts that asshole's freedom to spout epithets. The police officer was there clearly to be available if things escalated to where a crime actually was committed to allow the officer to step in. And that's precisely what happened - he and other passengers jumped in as soon as the assault took place, and fortunately the victim has every bit of it recorded for when he (hopefully) presses charges.
As for the TSA, there seems to be some confusion amongst the commenters. TSA are not police. TSO's are not given guns, have no power to arrest, and are not permitted to use force. They're at about the level of a mall cop, at best. That's why there are local police within the airport, and this is a perfect example of that at play.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Security_Administration#TSA_employees should be helpful.
While I'm always happy to pile on to the TSA, this isn't their situation to manage.
John,
What kind of behavior do you think the police should stop, exactly? Are you suggesting that speech should be criminalized?
"(though if the police was that close by before, I’m not sure why they didn’t act sooner)."
Because it's Texas, where it's OK to be a racist homophobe until you throw a punch.
This is yet another reason (and there are so many) to avoid flying airlines that are based in homo-hating, race-baiting red states. Until they decide that human rights are more important than tax breaks, this kind of behavior in states such as Texas will continue to be tolerated.
I wonder how he feels this morning, I wonder if Lucky could go to Dallas and interview him for us. sleeping it off in jail is not fun...
Pink t-shirt was really cool several years ago in my country among youngsters. Fortunately, this guy wasn't here those times.
The guy in the purple shirt who was closest to the camera when all of them fell down, his ankle snapped at 1:22. I think you can even hear it crack. That's why he needed a paramedic afterwards.
Alcohol is one hell of a drug!
this blog is fast turning into "America's Wildest Video" or some such trashy programs that air on TruTV/RealityTV etc.
anyways the video was sad and funny at the same time. like that phrase THOT: That Hoe Over There... this fatass coined a new term, TFRH: This Faggot Right Here lol
anyway's Ben, no wonder you're outta 'Murica so often (so much so that you get crazy looks when you order still water by default when...
this blog is fast turning into "America's Wildest Video" or some such trashy programs that air on TruTV/RealityTV etc.
anyways the video was sad and funny at the same time. like that phrase THOT: That Hoe Over There... this fatass coined a new term, TFRH: This Faggot Right Here lol
anyway's Ben, no wonder you're outta 'Murica so often (so much so that you get crazy looks when you order still water by default when you're back) cause looks like this is No Country for Gay Men.
Not as funny as the pilot who fought with the drunk guy while handing his portfolio to his co-pilot. But once again, ordinary passengers take care of it while authorities in a secure area do nothing.
now there's a real terrorist.
You know, you travel enough and you see the worst of humanity no matter where you may be. It's not a DFW thing, it's not an American thing, it's a human thing.
I try to always live by a simple philosophy: do your thing and allow others their mistakes; we're all just trying to get through our days the way we know how. It takes some real patience to live by sometimes, though.
We can't see any police officers in the video before the fight starts, so there's really no way of knowing how far away they were when this started. They could have been on their way and gotten there just when the punches were thrown, or they could have been standing just out of view of the camera and not seen any reason to get involved until they guy started swinging. Given how close they seemed...
We can't see any police officers in the video before the fight starts, so there's really no way of knowing how far away they were when this started. They could have been on their way and gotten there just when the punches were thrown, or they could have been standing just out of view of the camera and not seen any reason to get involved until they guy started swinging. Given how close they seemed to be to the security checkpoint, I'd guess they were at the checkpoint, noticed the noise when the drunk guy started shouting, and got there just when the fight started.
And I hope they throw the book at this sleazeball, although if it's his first offense, he'll probably get a slap on the wrist.
If you know DFW or you look at the background of the video this incident took place right in front of the TSA Security Check point at C30. The situation had already escalated to draw attention of everyone in the immediate area before the video starts. What should be the most secure point in a terminal and one officer from the Security Check point appears after passengers have broken up the fight and taken the...
If you know DFW or you look at the background of the video this incident took place right in front of the TSA Security Check point at C30. The situation had already escalated to draw attention of everyone in the immediate area before the video starts. What should be the most secure point in a terminal and one officer from the Security Check point appears after passengers have broken up the fight and taken the drunk guy to the ground. As the guy is taken away through the checkpoint it was still business as usual for TSA - no heightened alert for a security breach during this diversion. Beyond the obvious, this incident is troubling on several levels.
The lowest form of pathetic angry sick mentally disturbed trash in America
An embarrassment to our nation
But as the video commentator says lets hope he gets the help he needs
Someone get me a syringe... At least the idiot got arrested.
thank you Mr Taliban, hhaha
The part I like best is that everyone lets him talk his smack, but it only takes seconds after he throws the kick for everyone in the vicinity to take him down... :) did the guy in purple get out if a wheelchair to help?
oh.. and homophobic.. we gotta come up with a better term as clearly he is not afraid of gays but rather hates them..... Do we call racists "colorphobic"???? lol just saying...
I think you mean heterosexist.
No excuse for the drunk dude to respond that way but the dude in the pink striped shirt was provoking the whole thing.
I'm really glad the drunk got an ass kicking but it looked liked the guy in the pink shirt was provoking him? It's hard to say without seeing the whole situation.
...but get 30 minutes outside of Dallas and it's not a gay-friendly part of the country at all. And DFW draws for the whole region.
Note to self: do not wear a pink shirt at DFW in fear of being called a gay. Lol! Ignorant people. Smh
As a gay Dallasite, this frustrates me. We are a pretty gay friendly city.
Wow, just wow. Is it me or does one of the them guys who takes him down look a bit like RapidTravelChai?
I'm glad bystanders stepped in and knocked the guy down. I had odds at 2:1 just from the post that this was in DFW.
On a lighter note, there are easier ways to "miss" your flight to Minot, ND.