Texas man charged for mid-air meltdown challenges law, saying it was just rudeness

When does being a jerk rise to the level of becoming a felony when you’re 30,000 feet in the air?

A federal judge intends to decide the matter.

Justin Riley Brafford’s behavior in the sky while aboard a Southwest Airlines flight in October 2018 is the conduct in question. The 29-year-old Denton man flirted with a woman next to him, touching and “playing footsies” with her, according to an FBI complaint. When she rebuffed his advances and requested a new seat, a flight attendant scolded him.

Brafford, 29, didn’t take it well. He threw a profanity-laced tantrum in the attendant’s face for about 30 seconds and then sat down and kept quiet for the duration of the flight, according to court records.

The flight attendant, passengers and other crew members were intimidated by Brafford’s “belligerent manner,” federal authorities say, leading the pilot to divert the Dallas-bound flight to Albuquerque, where the FBI arrested him.

Brafford has remained behind bars since, unable to obtain release on bond. He’s charged with interfering with a flight crew, a felony.

While the FBI said in the complaint that Brafford also assaulted the woman by touching her, that charge was not included in the indictment.

But in legal filings, Brafford’s attorney says the government wants to punish him merely for “deviating from the socially acceptable norms of airline travel.”