A 60-year-old Brooklyn man was removed from a Delta flight at JFK Airport after allegedly causing a drunken, racist disturbance that delayed the Atlanta-bound jet by nearly an hour. Jerome Anixter was arrested and now faces charges of assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration.
Anixter was removed from Delta Flight 2342 by Port Authority officers while the plane sat at the gate preparing for departure, according to ABC7 New York. Officers said Anixter appeared intoxicated at the time, and the flight was scheduled to travel from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Atlanta before the incident unfolded. TMZ reports the aircraft was carrying 160 passengers and six crew members when officers responded.
Video posted online appears to show Anixter making racist remarks and gun noises as he was escorted off the plane. Footage reviewed by the Daily Mail showed the man being escorted off the plane by officers while he pretended to shoot them with finger guns.
Additional Claims Remain Unverified
A passenger alleged Anixter also shouted “Death to America” and pretended to shoot fellow travelers during the episode, but those additional claims were not independently confirmed in initial reports, according to the International Business Times. The outlet's account notes that the core details of the arrest line up with other reporting, even as the more inflammatory claims await verification.
The disruption pushed the flight's departure back roughly 45 minutes, the same TMZ report states. Delta said in a statement that it has zero tolerance for disruptive behavior and thanked law enforcement for its assistance in removing the unruly customer. The airline also apologized to passengers on the flight for the experience and the delay to their travels.
Part of a Broader Pattern in the Skies
Part of a Broader Pattern in the Skies The incident lands amid what the Federal Aviation Administration describes as an ongoing problem: the rate of unruly-passenger incidents has steadily dropped by more than 80% since record highs in early 2021, although the agency notes recent increases; it maintains a zero-tolerance policy on unruly behavior, according to the FAA. Still, the International Air Transport Association has pointed to a decline in the overall rate of reported unruly-passenger incidents, based on data gathered from more than 140 operators worldwide, per the group's own fact sheet.
Other recent cases underscore the FAA's concern. In March, a Delta flight traveling from Seattle to Taiwan diverted to Anchorage, Alaska, after a passenger allegedly directed racial slurs and threats at flight attendants, per the same International Business Times report. Earlier this month, actress Selma Blair was arrested after police responded to a call about a physically abusive passenger aboard a flight that landed at Kennedy Airport, according to The New York Times.
No police report, criminal complaint or court record has been made public to independently verify the current status of Anixter's charges, and it remains unclear whether he has retained an attorney or made a court appearance.
