Officers Fired After Forcible Removal Of United Airlines Passenger
A United Airlines jet taxis to a gate at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago in June.
Kiichiro Sato/AP
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Kiichiro Sato/AP
Two security officers who were caught on video in April forcibly removing a passenger from a United Airlines flight in Chicago were fired following the incident that sparked widespread public outrage.
In a report, Chicago’s Office of the Inspector General found that three Chicago Department of Aviation security officers “improperly escalated the incident” and that a sergeant “made misleading statements and deliberately removed material facts from their reports” on the April 9 incident aboard United Express Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., according to The Associated Press.
Several fellow passengers used their mobile phones to film the incident. Those videos were widely shared on social media and turned into a major public relations debacle for the airline. In them, officers are seen grabbing the passenger — Dr. David Dao — who was selected apparently at random to be removed from the overbooked flight.
As NPR’s Camila Domonoske reported at the time, Dao, 69:
“… was told he had to give up his ticket so a United crew member could take his seat. The man refused: He’s a doctor and said he had patients he had to see.”
“United called security officers, who violently wrenched the man from his seat,bloodying his face, and dragged his limp body down the aisle. The passenger, David Dao, is at a hospital in Chicago recovering from his injuries, member station WFPL reports.”
Dao’s attorney, Thomas Demetrio, said his client sustained a broken nose and lost teeth as he was dragged off the flight. United apologized for the incident and later reached an undisclosed settlement with Dao for his injuries.
Besides the two officers who were fired, two others received short-term suspensions and one of them subsequently resigned, the report says. The names of the four were not released.
Demetrio told the AP on Tuesday that he and his client were not expecting the dismissal of the security officer who is not a sergeant, but said it may resonate with others.
“In firing him, perhaps it will send a clear message to police and airline personnel all over the world that unnecessary violence is not the way to handle passenger matters,” Demetrio told the news agency.
Today in Movie Culture: 'Geostorm' Pranks New York City, Alternate 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Endings and More
Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:
Prank of the Day:
Warner Bros. fooled a bunch of people in New York City with a sudden weather change to promote Geostorm (via Geekologie):
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Alternate Sequel of the Day:
What if Jurassic Park II was much different and starred Bruce Willis along with a returning Samuel L. Jackson? Here’s a fake trailer showing the answer by Rich Williamson:
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Alternate Endings of the Day:
Just in time for today’s home video release, here’s a funny animated look at how Spider-Man: Homecoming should have ended:
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Effects Breakdown of the Day:
Speaking of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Imageworks shares how they animated the title superhero in his new movie:
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Vintage Image of the Day:
Michael McKean, who turns 70 today, in a publicity photo for his role as Mr. Green in 1985’s Clue:
Film Studies Lesson of the Day:
Now You See It looks at the meaning of physical injuries in movies and how it usually also represents something internal:
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Movie Science of the Day:
For Nerdist, Kyle Hill scientifically explains how deflector shields work in the Star Trek movies and TV shows:
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Cosplay of the Day:
If the director of the movie says it’s true, then this is indeed the best Doctor Strange cosplay ever:
Best ever Doctor Strange cosplay by my friend and superfan @AbzJHarding pic.twitter.com/sIA7ZWwiXo
— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) October 17, 2017
Movie Trivia of the Day:
With Halloween coming up, CineFix shares nine things you probably don’t know about the Scream movies:
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Classic Trailer of the Day:
Today is the 20th anniversary of the release of I Know What You Did Last Summer. Watch the original trailer for the classic horror movie below.
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NFL And Players Meet, But Punt On Anthem Controversy
Members of the San Francisco 49ers kneel during the playing of the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, earlier this month.
Michael Conroy/AP
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Michael Conroy/AP
NFL owners and players met at league headquarters in New York on Tuesday but failed to resolve the contentious issue of national anthem protests.
Eleven owners and 13 players attended the meeting that lasted for several hours and was variously described as “positive” and “constructive,” but didn’t break any new ground on the protests that have seen players take a knee, sit or raise fists during pregame renditions of the national anthem to protest against racial inequality and police shootings of unarmed black men.
NPR’s Tom Goldman tells All Things Considered that there “were hopes Tuesday’s meeting would bring a resolution — players agreeing to stop or curtail the demonstrations, the league and team owners agreeing to address the players’ issues.” However, the meeting ended without that.
“We heard what they had to say and they heard us,” Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said. “It’s open talks and that’s a good thing.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league “did not ask” for any change to the policy on the national anthem. That policy says players “should” stand for performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” but in the wake of the protests, some have suggested changing that language to “must.”
The NFL Players Association union and the league issued a joint statement, saying the sides came together “to promote positive social change and address inequality in our communities.”
“NFL executives and owners joined NFLPA executives and player leaders to review and discuss plans to utilize our platform to promote equality and effectuate positive change. We agreed that these are common issues and pledged to meet again to continue this work together,” the statement read.
“As we said last week, everyone who is part of our NFL community has a tremendous respect for our country, our flag, our anthem and our military. In the best American tradition, we are coming together to find common ground and commit to the hard work required for positive change,” it continued.
Last week, Commissioner Goodell said in a memo to the teams that the league prefers for players to stand during the anthem.
Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, who has been a leading spokesman for the players on this issue, said the discussion covered “everything to do with the state of the NFL now, obviously anthem protests, activism that players have been doing, and how we can move this forward to really amplify players’ voices and amplify these issues and make some long sustainable changes.”
“I’m not sure we’re close to a resolution, but conversations are ongoing,” he added.
Indianapolis Colts defensive back Darius Butler told Sports Illustrated that it was a good dialogue, adding, “it’s not going to be fixed overnight.”
The protests were touched off a year ago when then-San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick began taking a knee for the anthem. When President Trump weighed in last month saying owners should “fire” players for such protests, the issue snowballed into a national debate over those who see the matter as one of free speech and others who see it as a lack of respect for the flag and the national anthem.
Kaepernick, who became a free agent this season has remained unsigned. Earlier this week his attorney said he was filing a grievance against the NFL and owners for allegedly conspiring to shut him out of the league over the protests.
Senators Reach Deal To Stabilize ACA Insurance Markets For 2 Years
Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., say they have a tentative agreement to appropriate the subsidies for the next two years, restore money used to encourage people to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans, and make it easier for states to design their own alternative health care systems.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Cal via Getty Images
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Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Cal via Getty Images
Updated at 10:25 p.m. ET
Less than a week after President Trump said he is cutting off subsidies to health insurance companies, lawmakers say they have a deal to restore the money and take other actions that could stabilize insurance markets for next year.
Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., say they have a tentative agreement to appropriate the subsidies for the next two years, restore money used to encourage people to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans, and make it easier for states to design their own alternative health care systems.
Alexander said the idea is to stabilize the markets in the short term while Congress continues to debate long-term changes to the ACA.
“Over the next two years, I think Americans won’t have to worry about the possibility of being able to buy insurance in the counties where they live,” he said in a conversation with reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.
He said he spoke with President Trump over the weekend and that Trump said he supports the idea. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would not commit to bringing the bill up for a vote, as Murray and Alexander seek enough support to ensure it could pass. The bill would need 60 votes to get across the finish line and would require at least a dozen Republicans to take a difficult political step in voting to shore up parts of Obamacare.
In a speech to the Heritage Foundation on tax changes on Tuesday evening, Trump mentioned the tentative deal.
“And I’m pleased the Democrats have finally responded to my call for them to take responsibility for their Obamacare disaster and work with Republicans to provide much-needed relief to the American people. While I commend the bipartisan work done by Senators Alexander and Murray — and I do commend it — I continue to believe Congress must find a solution to the Obamacare mess instead of providing bailouts to insurance companies.”
Earlier, during a news conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Tuesday in the Rose Garden, Trump declared the Affordable Care Act “virtually dead” but said he supports the Alexander-Murray deal.
“It’s a short-term solution,” Trump said in response to a question about the deal. “The solution will be for about a year or two years and it will get us over this intermediate hump.”
The deal comes just days after the president said he is cutting off reimbursements to insurance companies for discounts they are required by law to give to low-income customers to reduce the burden of copayments and deductibles. They’re known as “cost-sharing reduction” payments.
The deal reached Tuesday, if it becomes law, would restore those payments for at least the next two years.
The agreement, which Murray says has not yet been finalized, would also make it easier for states to get waivers so they can set up alternative health insurance systems and offer a wider variety of insurance policies.
Alexander said those plans would retain the minimum coverage requirements under the ACA but could vary the definition of what is affordable. The deal also allows more people to buy so-called catastrophic plans that cover major illness but pay for less routine care.
“This is a small step,” Alexander said. “I’d like to undersell it rather than oversell it.”
An analysis by Charles Gaba, who runs a website, ACASignups.net, that tracks enrollment and costs of ACA insurance, showed that premiums are set to rise an average of 30 percent next year, with premiums in some states, including Iowa, rising much more.
As premiums rise, consumers who don’t think they need much health care are less likely to buy coverage, leaving sicker people in the market. Because those sicker customers spend a lot of money on care, they drive premiums up even higher. With restoration of the cost-sharing subsidies, those premium increases could be far smaller.
For much of this year, Trump had been threatening to cut off the subsidies. So insurance companies in many states filed paperwork to sell policies on the ACA exchanges next year that included two sets of premiums — one if the cost-sharing payments continued, and another if they were cut off. The deadline to finalize those prices was in late September, however, and it’s not clear companies will be allowed to cut their prices if the Alexander-Murray deal becomes law.
The agreement would also restore $106 million in money to publicize the open enrollment period for ACA health insurance. Trump had cut the budget for ACA outreach by 90 percent earlier this year, a move many advocates said would suppress enrollment.
Lori Lodes, who ran ACA outreach during the Obama administration, said that money will only be effective if it is approved early enough to reach those who need coverage. Open enrollment on the federal exchange begins on Nov. 1 and ends on Dec. 15.
Murray said she and Alexander had had discussions with more than half the Senate about the bill and she believed the plan would get broad support. Alexander said they’ll work to get co-sponsors for the legislation throughout the week so they can bring a bill to McConnell for consideration. McConnell has not said whether he supports the effort.
