NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis, wife speak out after ‘traumatizing’ incident at California airport
Davis is "still in shock over the traumatizing events" that took place on a United Airlines flight that resulted in him being placed in handcuffs in Santa Ana.
Pro football Hall of famer Terrell Davis is “still in shock over the traumatizing events” that took place on a United Airlines flight that resulted in him being placed in handcuffs.
Davis and his wife Tamiko sat with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” Wednesday to discuss how the incident that occurred over the weekend at John Wayne Airport in Orange County has affected their family.
The two-time Super Bowl champion shared in an Instagram post over the weekend that, while he and his family were on a United flight Saturday, a flight attendant falsely accused Davis of assault in an incident that resulted in a brief police detainment in front of his children.
“I’m looking at looking at my sons who are sitting right next to him, watching their dad being handcuffed,” Tamiko shared with Roberts, getting visibly emotional. “And what could we do? And I’m asking them, ‘what is going on?’ Like why are you doing this?”
“I thought it was a joke, because what else could it be?” she added.
Davis tells Roberts, “I felt demoralized. I felt embarrassed, humiliated. I felt like my dignity was stripped from me right in front of my children and my family,”
He added: “I want United to be held accountable.”
Davis says he hopes speaking about the experience will “affect change.” “Lots of people have contacted me after this and they’re sending me text messages saying that the same thing happened to them.”
United Airlines apologized to Davis in a statement saying, “This is clearly not the kind of travel experience we strive to provide, and we have reached out to Mr. Davis’s team to apologize.”
The airline told ABC News they have removed the flight attendant from his position.
In his account of the incident, Davis says the conflict began when the flight attendant didn’t respond to his son’s request for a cup of ice during beverage service. Davis said he “calmly reached behind me and lightly tapped his arm” to request the ice.
The flight attendant responded by allegedly shouting “don’t hit me” and left the beverage cart to roll to the front of the plane, leaving Davis and other passengers confused.
“I thought nothing of it other than this particular employee was incredibly rude and blatantly wrong in his accusations of me hitting him,” he said. “I did not see or interact with him further for the duration of the flight.”
When the flight landed, six FBI and law enforcement agents boarded the plane to place the former Denver Broncos running back in handcuffs in front of his wife and children without any explanation. ‘Don’t fight it,’ Davis recalls the agent whispering to him while placing him in handcuffs.
“I was then removed from the flight while being recorded by multiple passengers as I was paraded off of the plane in handcuffs by the officers,” Davis explained. “I was − and remain − humiliated, embarrassed, powerless and angry.”
After being taken by authorities for questioning, Davis says “it was rightfully determined by the agents this flight attendant was inaccurate in his accusations and the agents profusely apologized even offering to support me and my family in any way possible.”
Davis describes the incident as a “disgusting display of injustice and deplorable treatment by United Airlines.”
He added, “The traumatizing experience of my two sons, my daughter, and my wife watching me being placed in handcuffs − without due process or any explanation − cannot be undone.”