White privilege reared its ugly head once again when a white chemical engineer hurled racist and homophobic slurs at passengers and attendants on a flight.
The incident occurred Tuesday evening aboard a flight that was about to take off from Philadelphia to Dallas. Passenger Zachary Easterly wasted no time pissing off everyone in his path, yelling insults and calling everyone names. The flight staff quickly asked Easterly to retrieve his bag and exit the plane, which only further infuriated him. The man claimed to be a racist because he is a white man who chose a black bag, which he then yelled was “a better bag than most of y’all can afford.” As the attendants helped him search the overhead bins for the item, he grew agitated that they were unfamiliar with the apparently expensive bag brand.
Easterly yelled that he was “a little intoxicated” but felt there was no reason for him to be kicked off the aircraft. He then turned to several passengers and screamed, “f**k you.” When he finally located the carry-on, he began walking down the aisle toward the exit, calling everyone aboard a “liberal f****t” and hoping the plane would crash. However, Easterly did not stop there. He proceeded to scream that he was an employee of the biotechnology company GlaxoSmithKline and even repeated the name when one passenger yelled for him to do so. During the rant, he claimed he would quit, but the company wasted no time beating him to the punch.
“We immediately conducted an investigation, and as of Thursday, he is no longer employed at GSK. The person’s remarks were reprehensible and do not reflect our company culture,” GlaxoSmithKline said in a statement obtained by TMZ.
It remains unclear what set Easterly off and whether or not he has been placed on the no-fly list. He has not publicly addressed the incident.
