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United passenger: 'I'd rather go to jail' than leave flight willingly

Posted at 1:36 PM, Apr 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-12 18:09:01-04

New video taken from United flight 3411 shows a passenger — who seconds later was dragged off the plane by police — refusing to leave his seat.

The man, identified by the Louisville Courier-Journal as Dr. Daniel Dao, attempted to explain to police officers that he was a physician and needed to be in Louisville to see patients at 8 a.m. the next day.

“I’m not going,” Dao is heard saying.

Police officers then threatened to drag the Dao off the plane.

“You can then drag me. I don’t go. I’m not going,” he said.

Dao also tells officers he’d rather go to jail than willingly leave the plane.

Moments later, video taken by other passengers shows police ripping the man from his seat and dragging him off the plane. More video clips show the man later returned to the plane, disoriented and bloody.

In the days since video of the event went viral, United CEO Oscar Munoz has released three separate statements apologizing for the incident. The company’s stock has also fallen nearly two points, a large contingent of flyers in China have promised to boycott the airline citing racism and Senators have called for an investigation into the practice of overbooking flights.