COME ON, MAN

Cop Threatens Stranded Southwest Travelers for 'Trespassing' at Nashville Airport

After Southwest passengers' flights were canceled, an officer said they'd be arrested if they didn't leave.

Police officers threatened to arrest Southwest Airlines passengers who “refused to leave” the Nashville International Airport on Sunday—just hours after the airline canceled a wave of flights due to inclement weather. A TikTok video went viral after a cop told a group of passengers that they needed to leave or risked being “arrested for trespassing” after their flights were supposedly canceled. In the video, the officer is seen directing the travelers where to go, but multiple passengers attempt to explain to him that their flights had not been canceled, they were in the middle of layovers, or they were still waiting for gate assignments. “We’re stuck here,” a woman tells him. In a second part of the video, the police officer tells passengers they no longer had valid tickets if their flights were canceled and accuses one Southwest customer—in a fairly condescending tone—of not listening when she asked for more information and claimed that he didn’t need to give her a code for her alleged violation. In a statement Wednesday, Southwest said police had been called at the Nashville airport to help escort passengers to ticketing gates in order to find alternative flights, saying, “We understand and appreciate the frustrations travelers may have, and we are working to provide the best passenger experience for all.”