A heated confrontation occurred aboard a Southwest Airlines flight departing from Atlanta yesterday, when Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt Aaron Tex Johnson got into a fiery argument with another passenger, resulting in him being instructed to leave the plane. Shortly after boarding, the former MMA fighter had a disagreement with another passenger, reportedly over an overhead bin compartment.
A video of the heated argument was shared to r/AirRagers earlier today and sheds light on what occurred during the ruckus. Accompanying the footage is the description, “BJJ practitioner Tex Johnson just before being carted off“. The clip starts in the midst of the verbal altercation, and takes place after the flight attendants have already intervened. A blonde air stewardess wearing white gloves can be seen stood in the aisle in front of Johnson, who is sporting a grey sleeveless hoodie and black pants.
The flight attendant is pointing at the exit of the plane and yelling, “Now!” at Johnson, who responds with, “I have to get my bag.” To this, the air stewardess exclaims, “Get your bag and go!” Johnson then starts shouting at another person off screen, “You’re a loser!” You can the man off screen say, “I’m not the loser!“
It’s hard to make out what’s being yelled, as there’s quite a lot of background noise, but it does sound like Johnson says something like, “No, no. At least she’s taking care of her. Take care of your kids!” The flight attendant exclaims, “Not on my plane. Go.” and ushers Johnson away. You can hear in the background a chorus of passengers happily shouting, “Bye! Bye!” to Johnson, as he’s escorted off the plane, along with onlookers clapping loudly.
At the exit, however, Johnson has one final meltdown. As two flight attendants attempt to shepherd him off the plane, the former MMA fighter then begins to claim that he’s been the victim of assault. Right in the flight attendants’ faces, he yells, “Assault! Abuse! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!” One of the air stewardess’s yells, “You need to go!” while another shouts, “Get off my plane!” while other passengers simply chant, “Go! Go!“
As the video continues to snowball online, social media users took to the comments section to air their two cents on the clip. One person on Reddit wrote, “Did she ever get that storage compartment closed? Somebody help that poor lady.” while another weighed in with, “That was some unexpected comedy at the end there wow.” A fourth commenter expressed, “I love how he’s hanging over the seat ready to fight but a middle aged woman touches him and he starts crying ASSAULT.”
According to PYOK, Southwest Airlines (WN) has reportedly banned Johnson from all future flights. The airline did not issue a public statement but emphasized its ongoing commitment to safety and respectful conduct aboard its aircraft.
