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The crazed plane passenger who was duct-taped and zip-tied on a flight to New Jersey first flipped over a discussion about religion with his seatmate, a controversial Messianic rabbi who’s a best-selling author dubbed a “Doomsday prophet.”
Author Jonathan Cahn said that now-fired Arizona realtor Arthur Layne Lundeen, 67, allegedly started hurling racist and homophobic slurs after first screaming at him that “Jesus is bulls–t.”
“I was the unidentified passenger and I was actually attacked, 30,000 feet in the sky. I was attacked on that plane,” Cahn revealed in a YouTube video Monday.
“I have never seen someone change in a split second from light to dark as I saw then, as if something had taken him over,” Cahn said. “He went from the friendliest guy in the world to this dark person.”
Cahn leads the Beth Israel Worship Center in Wayne, New Jersey, part of the Messianic Jewish movement that believes Jesus is the messiah, making it generally considered a branch of Christianity.
He is also known for his controversial books, especially his debut 2011 novel, “The Harbinger,” which draws parallels between the 9/11 attacks and the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel, linking the events as a divine warning.
Another book, 2015’s “The Mystery of the Shemitah,” suggested a great global catastrophe was imminent, with the New York Times calling him a “Doomsday prophet.”
Cahn claimed it was the cover of his newest novel, “The Altar of Pergamon,” that “triggered” Lundeen after they had been chatting amiably on last Thursday’s Newark-bound American Airlines flight.
Cahn said he referenced “the reality of the real power of god on Earth and in our lives,” leaving Lundeen irate and “cursing Jesus” and “blaspheming Jesus and God.”
He claimed Lundeen then started saying, “It’s all bulls–t. Jesus is bulls–t.”
As Lundeen continued his tirade, Cahn said he grew physically hostile, hitting his laptop and trying to take it away from the author as the plane was in the process of making its emergency landing.
“The plane is in shock, the pilot is radioing the ground, for an emergency landing. We’re fighting over my computer,” Cahn said, noting that his laptop screen was damaged in the scuffle.
Passengers soon intervened and secured Lundeen to his seat with duct tape and plastic zip ties. Cahn said one flyer who helped subdue the madman told him, “You were being tested. God was testing you.”
The flight had to make an emergency landing in Baltimore after Lundeen flipped out and allegedly started hurling racist and homophobic slurs at a black flight attendant and attacking other passengers.
Cahn did not say if anything specific about his latest book “triggered” his seatmate, beyond it starting a conversation about religion.
The novel explores the spiritual history of a 2nd Century BC Greek structure which was excavated between 1878 and 1886, connecting its unearthing to historical turning points like World War II, the rise of the Third Reich and end-of-the-world prophecies.
Lundeen is facing state charges of second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.
The FBI is still conducting interviews and will discuss the matter with the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland to weigh whether federal charges will be filed.
Long Realty said Lundeen was no longer affiliated with the company after learning of the mid-flight incident. His bio page has since been scrubbed from the company website.
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