Shirtless man on Bradley Airport flight attempted to drag flight attendant, police say
A 24-year-old man was arrested in connection with grabbing and trying to drag a flight attendant on a flight from Bradley International Airport flying to Chicago, officials said.
Julius Jordan Priester was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants, according to the office of David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
The offense of interfering with flight crew members and attendants carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, Sullivan's office wrote on Wednesday.
On May 27, Priester was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 3359, which left Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, for Chicago at about 9:30 p.m.
Between thirty minutes to an hour into the flight, Priester stood up, began to take off his shirt and ran to the back of the plane yelling 'help me.' He then grabbed a flight attendant who was seated and shouted, 'you're coming with me.' He forcefully brought the attendant to the ground and attempted to drag them up the aisle, Sullivan's office wrote.
Passengers intervened and Priester was returned to his seat, continuing to 'act erratically' and make statements that did not make sense, according to Sullivan's office. The captain of the plane declared an emergency, and the flight was diverted back to Bradley Airport. Following the plane's landing at the airport, Priester was removed by Connecticut State Police and taken by ambulance to a local hospital for evaluation.
Priester appeared on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford. He is detained pending a bond hearing that is scheduled for today, Sullivan's office wrote.
Man died in Webster house fire, reports say
Man killed in fire at multi-family home in Revere, fire officials say
Fatal Cape Cod house fire caused by smoldering cigarettes, fire officials say
Read the original article on MassLive.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
American Airlines Announces Big TSA Change for Select Travelers
In late May, American Airlines announced a major change at Philadelphia International Airport. Those traveling through the popular airport will now "have a 25,000-square-foot oasis awaiting them in the A-West Terminal," as the airlines debuts two new lounges just before Memorial Day on May 22. The lounges are open to eligible AAdvantage members, qualifying OneWorld members and customers traveling in premium cabins on qualifying same-day flights, according to the announcement. Just a week later, American Airlines announced another big change for AAdvantage members at four major airports across the country. Starting May 29, AAdvantage members traveling through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport will be eligible to enjoy a streamlined process at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport security checkpoints through TSA PreCheck Touchless ID. 'We're examining every aspect of the customer experience,' Heather Garboden, American's Chief Customer Officer said in a statement. 'TSA Precheck Touchless ID helps streamline our customers' travel experience and makes travel with us even more enjoyable. We look forward to it becoming available to even more customers in the coming months.' This program provides eligible members who choose to participate with the ability to move through security with ease at select airports. American Airlines described the new technology: "After an identity match compares a customer's image to photos they previously provided to the government, such as those in a passport, Global Entry or a visa card, the customer will be able to move through security faster with ease." Expansion will continue at airports across the system in the coming months in close collaboration with TSA, with a focus on hub Airlines Announces Big TSA Change for Select Travelers first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 2, 2025
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear GOP activist's lawsuit challenging Texas Ethics Commission's lobbying fine
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to consider a lawsuit from conservative Texas activist Michael Quinn Sullivan against the Texas Ethics Commission, serving another blow to his more than decade-long challenge against the state agency that implements and enforces Texas' campaign finance and lobbying laws. Since 2014, Sullivan, who used to lead a powerful conservative advocacy group called Empower Texans, has challenged an ethics commission decision to fine him $10,000 for failing to register as a lobbyist in 2010 and 2011, repeatedly appealing his case before petitioning the nation's highest court earlier this year to consider it. Last year, the Texas Supreme Court declined his request to overrule two state appeals' court decisions refusing to toss out the fines. Sullivan argued in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that Texas' ethics laws violate the First Amendment rights of 'ordinary citizens,' who are looking to speak to their elected representatives, with burdensome registrations and fees. 'States in some parts of the country are able to curtail the freedoms of speech, petition, and assembly by branding ordinary citizens 'lobbyists' and threatening them with severe financial penalties,' Sullivan's lawyers wrote. 'This Court's review is sorely needed to clarify the circumstances under which the government may require citizens to pay a fee and obtain a license to communicate with their government representatives. Unless and until this Court does so, States can continue—as Texas has done here—to use such requirements to harass or silence those whose speech is disfavored.' The Ethics Commission responded that Sullivan's actions went far beyond an 'average citizen who happened to visit with a lawmaker or who spent a day or two at the Texas Capitol during a legislative session.' The Ethics Commission declined to comment. In a statement, Sullivan's lawyer Tony McDonald said they were grateful for those who urged the Supreme Court to take the case, including Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. 'More and more Texans are waking up to the threat posed by the Texas Ethics Commission to the fundamental freedoms enshrined in our constitution,' McDonald said. 'No Texans should ever be dragged behind closed doors to be investigated over their political speech.' The court's decision means the appeals court decision siding with the ethics commission stands. Sullivan will go back to a district court for a jury trial to determine how much he has to pay. The ethics commission started investigating Sullivan after two former state lawmakers filed a complaint against him asserting that he had acted as an unregistered lobbyist. Sullivan has long contended that his activities with the now-defunct Empower Texans constituted journalism, not lobbying. But the ethics commission rejected that argument. In their 2014 ruling, they pointed to dozens of communications that he routinely sent to Republican lawmakers to discuss legislation and amendments, and encouraged them to vote in alignment with his organization's values. Sullivan also published a Fiscal Responsibility Index ranking lawmakers' conservative bonafides based on their voting record each session. The commission found Sullivan used that scorecard to influence members' votes as part of his job for Empower Texans, another example of lobbying. In court, Sullivan repeatedly tried to argue the ethics commission didn't have the constitutional authority to enforce the state's ethics laws. Initially, Sullivan was able to get the case tried in a Denton County district court instead of Travis County, claiming he moved there. A judge there ruled in Sullivan's favor, but the ruling didn't stick because the case got sent back to Travis County after an appeals court ruled Sullivan didn't actually meet the residency requirements to have the case heard in Denton County from the start. The Travis County judge sided with the TEC, which Sullivan appealed and lost again. Meanwhile, Sullivan filed multiple other cases against the commission, all of which have been denied or dismissed in federal or state district court. In recent months, Sullivan's bid to the nation's high court has drawn support from multiple high profile conservative officials and groups who wrote briefs in support of the activist, including the Cato Institute, the Manhattan Institute and Paxton. Cornyn and Cruz wrote a joint brief. Paxton declined to have his office represent the ethics commission in the case, forcing the agency to hire outside counsel. Since 2014, the commission has put more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars toward outside legal help. In his brief, Paxton backed Sullivan's argument that Texas' lobby laws violate his first amendment rights. 'It is antithetical to the First Amendment that a private citizen working for a nonprofit organization dedicated to fiscal responsibility that does not provide gifts to lawmakers nonetheless must register with the government, make disclosures to the government, and even pay a fee to the government to simply email elected officials about matters of significant public concern,' Paxton wrote. Cruz and Cornyn did not take a position on the fines imposed on Sullivan, but instead argued that the courts have not set a solid precedent about how courts should review lobbying statutes against free speech concerns. 'Applying the appropriate tier of scrutiny when evaluating lobbyist disclosure requirements is crucial to ensuring protected political speech is not unlawfully restricted or silenced,' they wrote. In their response to the petition, the ethics commission said many of the authors of these friend-of-the-court briefs, including ones written by Paxton, and Cruz and Cornyn, 'appear to assume, without any real analysis of the record — that Sullivan did nothing more than write a newsletter and work on a website that 'rated' legislators. Such characterizations belie the actual record that led to a Texas court granting summary judgements in the Commission's favor on the merits of the claims that Sullivan violated Texas law.' First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
United Airlines awarded 5 more gates at Chicago O'Hare International Airport
United Airlines has officially been awarded five more gates at Chicago O'Hare airport, despite protests from other airlines. The gate allocations are made by the Chicago Department of Aviation in response to how many flights each carrier flies into the airport in the prior year, a spokesperson for Untied said. The five gates United gains are currently being used by other airlines, though which airlines were not immediately clear. As a result, Untied will have a total of 95 gates at O'Hare. American Airlines, which has objected to the gate allocation dating back to 2018, will have 59 gates, the spokesperson said. In 2018, American opposed the $8.5 billion O'Hare terminal expansion plans, accusing the city of including a "secret provision" that would grant Untied extra gates and generally favor the rival airline. Where the new gates will be was not immediately known, but United has gates in concourses B, C, E F and G.
