Man arrested at Atlanta airport after 'asking Jews on plane to identify themselves'

‘A man on my plane went on an antisemitic tirade,’ says Delta passenger

Man arrested at airport in Atlanta (Jordan Dale / Twitter)

A man has been arrested after allegedly going on an antisemitic tirade on a Delta airlines flight and asking all Jewish people on board to identify themselves.

David Toaff, 34, was charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing law enforcement officers, according court records in the US state of Georgia.

A video taken by a passenger who was on the flight from Washington DC to Atlanta on Wednesday showed Mr Toaff shouting and trying to run away from three officers as they took him into custody at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“I’m not a bad person,” Mr Toaff can be heard saying.

“Nobody said you are a bad person,” one of the officers replied.

In the clip, Mr Toaff, of the Logan Circle neighbourhood of Washington DC, is wearing what appears to be a Jewish prayer shawl known as a tallit.

Police told USA Today Mr Toaff had been arrested at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and an initial investigation indicates he had called for Jewish people on the flight to make themselves known.

“Preliminary information indicates that while in flight… a male was yelling, asking Jewish people on board to identify themselves and making remarks about bombings to passengers aboard the aircraft,” said officer Lisa Bender.

A Delta Air Lines spokesperson said police had been called to the scene due to the “customer’s behaviour.”

Jordan Dale, a passenger on the flight, recorded Mr Toaff’s encounter with the police.

Mr Toaff can be seen asking officers why he was being apprehended. “What did I do wrong?” he asks, as a man in the background brands him a “Nazi”.

He tried to run away from the officers later in the clip.

“Today a man on my plane went on an antisemitic tirade and demanded “all Jews raise their hands” so he could “identify them”,” Mr Dale wrote on Twitter.