Family Says Disruptive Plane Suspect Was A Victim

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Jawan StraderE-mail

NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (CBS4) ―

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Mansor Asad was arrested after he allegedly became disruptive on a Northwest Air flight to Detroit.

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Mansor Asad was arrested after he allegedly became disruptive on a Delta flight to Detroit.

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The family of an Ohio man kicked off a plane at Miami International Airport for allegedly making anti-semitic remarks believes he was targeted because of his race.

Melissa Asad and her niece Gina were on board a Northwest Airlines flight with 43-year-old Mansor Mohammad Asad at Miami-International Airport bound for Detroit Wednesday night. The plane returned to the gate and they were kicked off.

"We did nothing wrong to be treated like we were treated; we were treated like animals basically," said Melissa Asad Mansor's sister. "They over exaggerated the whole situation, which she got away with it obviously," Melissa Asad said. She is referring to an off-duty flight attendant that overheard a conversation between her brother and another passenger talking about Palestinians and Jews.

She says the woman then ran to get security. "I think it was US Marshals, the guys with the guns came in there and was like you guys have to get off the plane."

Police say Mansor Mohammad Asad became disruptive, saying "I'm Palestinian, Jews should be killed."

But his sister says she and Asad's daughter witnessed something totally different.

"My brother didn't get into a scuffle, they got into a scuffle with him. They slammed him on the ground, he was faced down on the ground," said Asad.

She says her brother never tried to charge at them or fight back. But officers still shot him twice with a Taser. "How can you be fighting or anything with your head face down on the ground with somebody's knee in your back with guns over your head."

Mansor Asad went before a judge for a bond hearing Friday claiming his innocence. But the judge wasn't easy on him setting bond at $210-thousand.

This is excessive to family members who believe they did nothing wrong.

"It made me feel like we were mistreated, all of us," said Asad's daughter Gina.

Melissa Asad is upset and said, "Just because we're Arabic, I feel they're very, very, very racist against us."

Asad's attorney's said the whole incident was a misunderstanding, and if he posts the bond, he will be under house arrest with a relative in Fort Lauderdale.