An American college professor was arrested by Miami-Dade police on Saturday for launching into an extended rant about Venezula and smoking on an airplane, all of which was captured on video.
Karen Halnon, identified as an associate professor of sociology at Penn State, was on an American Airlines flight from Nicaragua to Miami, according to television station WFOR.
“The United States has declared war on Venezuela,” Halnon repeated throughout the video, which was posted to YouTube as a clip titled “Crazy woman on a plane.”
“Venezuela has been declared a national security threat,” she repeated on the video.
“You’re a national security threat,” another passenger shot back.
Halnon later told WFOR that she was returning from a trip to Nicaragua working with single mothers and felt the need to talk to people about the destructiveness of U.S. imperialism.
On the tape, she eventually unbuckled her seatbelt as passengers around her groaned.
“My great hero Hugo Chavez nationalized the oil supply,” she said. Halnon was then informed by a flight attendant that the police would be arresting her shortly.
At one point, Halnon calmly lit a cigarette as the passenger next to her got up and left.
“This girl’s a gangster,” another onlooker said.
Hanlon confirmed to WFOR that she indeed lit a cigarette on the plane.
“I took a few puffs out of it,” she said. “Every other revolutionary smokes. Fidel. Daniel Ortega. Tomás Borge. Che Guevara.”
Watch the videos:
h/t Washington Post
