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SALT LAKE CITY — A man accused of interference with a flight crew was found not guilty by a jury Tuesday.
Atef Bandary, a U.S. citizen originally from Egypt, never expected that a walk to the bathroom would land him in handcuffs and a federal indictment.
“I would never like it happen to anybody as long as I live, no way,” Bandary said.
On May 29, 2015, Bandary was traveling on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Palm Springs, California, where he resides, with a planned stop in Salt Lake City. According to his lawyer, Brian Frees, Bandary had frequently gone to the restroom throughout the flight due to a medical condition.
Frees said Bandary, 59, was approached by flight attendants and told that he had to sit down because passengers were complaining and suspicious of his walking around on the plane.
Bandary said it was all due to baseless complaints from passengers.
“They said I looked suspicious because of my skin color,” he said. “They said I was walking suspicious in the airplane, and I wasn't suspicious. I was walking like everybody else."
Bandary was accused of assaulting the flight attendant who was trying to restrain him in flex cuffs during the confrontation, according to his attorney.
Two years later, emotions for Bandary are still very raw as he remembers being removed from this flight.
“You feel like you are scared and you didn't do anything,” Bandary said. “I couldn’t understand it.”
Bandary was charged with interfering with a flight crew, an offense punishable up to 20 years in prison.
During the trial, Bandary testified that he was simply going to the bathroom; and when the flight attendant approached him to take his seat, he said he had to go to the bathroom or he would have an accident.
Frees said Bandary was racially profiled by some passengers.
“Throughout the court testimony, it was apparent that a few passengers were nervous because he looked like a terrorist, and one in particular would follow him when he got up to walk on the plane,” Frees said.
After a six-day trial, the jury returned on Tuesday with a unanimous not guilty verdict.
“I'm so happy today, I can't believe it,” Bandary said.
While he may be happy for the victory, Bandary is still hoping for change.
“I hope to find a day when people don't stereotype people,” he said.
