Arab-American Family Kicked Off Flight Claims They Were Discriminated Against

An Arab-American family from Libertyville is claiming they were discriminated against when they were kicked off a United Airlines flight at O'Hare International Airport this past week.

Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley of Libertyville said her, her husband and three young children were headed to Washington, D.C., for a spring break vacation when they were asked to get off the plane due to "a safety of flight issue." Shebley captured the exchange on video and posted it to her Facebook page. That post has been shared over 18,000 times.

Meanwhile, United Airlines says the family was asked to get off the flight due to concerns about their child's safety seat. NBC Chicago reached out to United Airlines and received the following statement from a spokesperson:

We reached out to the family following their flight on March 20 to discuss their concerns. They were originally scheduled to fly on SkyWest 5811, operating as United Express from Chicago O’Hare to Washington, D.C., but we rebooked them on a later flight because of concerns about their child’s safety seat, which did not comply with federal safety regulations. Both United and SkyWest hold our employees to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination.

Ahmed Rehab, executive director of Chicago's Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the Chicago Tribune the family was asked to deplane after they requested an extra strap for the safety seat. Rehab also said a United ticket agent told them to bring the seat on board the plane.

The family wants United Airlines to apologize.