Terrell Davis’ lawyer announces lawsuit against United Airlines over handcuff incident: “It’s appalling”

After former Denver Broncos running back and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Terrell Davis was handcuffed and escorted off a United plane by FBI agents, his office intends to sue the airline, according to his attorney.

Davis’ attorney Parker Stinar released a new video showing the incident on Tuesday morning.

“It’s appalling and United must be held accountable,” Stinar told CBS News Colorado’s Mekialaya White via Zoom. “We plan to file a lawsuit in the next few weeks.”

It happened earlier this month. Davis was on a scheduled United flight from Denver to California. The video, taken by a fellow passenger, shows FBI agents escorting Davis off the plane after a flight attendant claims Davis hit him. Davis says he lightly tapped the flight attendant to ask for a cup of ice cream for his son. He says the flight attendant yelled, “Don’t hit me.” The flight attendant then walked to another part of the plane.

Davis described what happened next in a CBS Mornings Interview.

“They came right up to me, and the agent walked up to me, leaned over and whispered, ‘Don’t fight back,'” Davis said. He was then handcuffed. “In that moment, I felt powerless. I was mortified. I thought, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ I didn’t get a chance to see what was happening. He didn’t tell me what was happening.”

Stinar says Davis was compliant and did not deserve this treatment. “He is well-liked everywhere. He is just a wonderful person. He cooperated with the police when he left the plane and throughout the interrogation. We have heard from passengers on the flight who, in addition to the video, confirm the Davises’ story that there was no incident. There was no attack.”

“Do you think he was targeted because of his race?” White asked.

“Yes, I think race played a role,” Stinar said.

He says the problem of discrimination is widespread and the Davis family plans to advocate for others in the future: “What would have happened if he had just been another black person on that flight?”