Man Claims Gun Logo Got Him Kicked Off Frontier Flight

ATLANTA, GA — A professional skateboarder and musician from Atlanta claims he was kicked off of a Frontier Airlines flight over a t-shirt logo with guns on it.

Justin Mallory, 45, performs under the name "Stoney Pebbles" with Big Black Biscuit — the name of his band and his skating brand. The brand's logo and other imagery makes frequent use of handguns and other firearms and he says it was a t-shirt bearing that logo that got him into trouble as he was traveling to a skateboarding convention in Phoenix, Arizona earlier this month.

(See an image of the logo at the bottom of this story.)

Frontier tells a different story, saying that Mallory was removed because he was being disruptive after being told he couldn't bring his skateboard on the flight with him and would have to check it.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

"I was flabbergasted. I was taken aback," Mallory said to WSB-TV. "The shirt is just a graphic."

He told the station that Frontier employees told him that the logo had made another passenger uncomfortable. Mallory's lawyer, Mawuli Davis, called the incident "discrimination and profiling."

"The shirt, some would say he’s dressed in a hip-hop fashion, and he’s African-American," Davis said to WSB. "Those three things may have all contributed to the discrimination and profiling against him."

In a written statement, Frontier says that wasn't the case. The airline says Mallory "became argumentative prior to boarding when asked to check a skateboard."

"The passenger boarded the aircraft and continued to exhibit disruptive behavior," Frontier said.

Describing itself as "ghetto punk street-hop," Big Black Biscuit's imagery frequently employs guns, knives, theskull-and-crossbones and other arguably violent images. One logo lists the group's hometown as "Gatlanta." "Gat" is slang for a handgun.

Mallory said being kicked off of the flight made him miss the skateboarding convention, where he had planned to sell merchandise. He and his lawyer say they are considering a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, a rally was held at the Historic Old Fourth Ward skate park on Wednesday in support of Mallory.

Photo courtesy Frontier Airlines