Woman Accused of Assaulting Air Marshal: ‘I’m Palestinian!’

A woman was arrested after she allegedly assaulted a Federal Air Marshal on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Virginia on Saturday.

Dana Mustafa, 27, of North Carolina, was aboard a United Airlines flight bound for Dulles International Airport when flight attendants reportedly caught her smoking inside the lavatory, according to Fox 5.

When they told her smoking was not allowed and asked her to return to her seat, Mustafa became upset and claimed she was going home to see her family but they had just been killed in a car accident.

“A Federal Air Marshal then observed Mustafa leave her seat and walk to the rear of the plane while striking the flint of a lighter,” the report noted.

However, when a flight attendant tried to prevent her from going back into the lavatory, Mustafa allegedly pushed the attendant and tried to close the lavatory door.

Moments later, two marshals intervened and she “allegedly refused to comply and was combative, including resisting being handcuffed, yelling, and kicking at the Federal Air Marshals,” according to a press release from the Eastern District of Virginia’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“After being handcuffed and relocated next to a Federal Air Marshal, Mustafa stated that, ‘I’m going to stab everyone on this plane. Then kill myself. I’m Palestinian! That’s how we get down,'” the press release read.

The marshals reportedly found a half-empty liter of Absolut vodka sitting at the top of her bag and said she told them, “I was allowed to drink my duty-free bottle of vodka on my previous flight,” according to a Fox News report.

When an FBI agent interviewed Mustafa once the plane landed at Dulles, she reportedly admitted that the story about her family was a lie.

“Mustafa is charged with assaulting a federal officer and faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, if convicted. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Tuesday, Mustafa will appear in court for a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Alexandria.