A flight attendant denied a Muslim woman an unopened can of soda, saying she might use it as a weapon


Tahera Ahmad, a Muslim passenger who flew United Airlines, described in detail on her Facebook page an incident of Islamophobia she faced. A flight attendant refused to give her an unopened can of Diet Coke, allegedly explaining she may "use it as a weapon on the plane." Meanwhile, Ahmad said the passenger next to her got an unopened beer. A passenger then berated her and told her to shut up, Ahmad wrote.
Ahmed said the flight attendant and pilot apologized upon landing. The company told BuzzFeed News it doesn't discriminate against its customers. Using the hashtag #unitedfortahera, some Twitter users are saying they'll boycott the airline.
"I am in tears of humiliation from discrimination," Ahmad wrote.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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