Crisp uniform, silver badge, red lipstick still perfect. He made his decision in two seconds. The wrong one. Ma'am, he said walking toward Briana, "I'm going to need you to stand up and come with us."
Briana didn't stand up.
She looked at Officer Dawson, then at Heather, then back at Dawson. "Before you do anything, officer, I'd suggest you talk to the other passengers first." Dawson frowned. "Ma'am, I've been briefed by the crew. I need you to You were briefed by her." Briana nodded toward Heather.
"Now ask the people who actually watched what happened."
Janice Tate was already on her feet. She didn't wait to be asked. She stepped into the aisle and held her phone out to Dawson the way a prosecutor presents exhibit A. "Officer, I recorded the entire incident start to finish.
That flight attendant physically assaulted this woman. She slapped her across the face, unprovoked. I have it all, audio, video, everything." Dawson stopped. His hand, which had been reaching toward Briana's arm, dropped to his side.
"She did what?"
"She slapped her. Open palm, full contact. You can hear it on the recording."
Mr. Douglas in 1B stood up next, laptop closed and blazer buttoned.
The kind of man who usually stayed out of things until staying out of things meant being part of the problem. "She's right, officer. I watched the whole thing. That attendant harassed this woman from the moment she sat down, refused to serve her, dumped her bag on the floor, called her" He paused, shook his head.
"I should have spoken up sooner. That's on me." Mrs. Crawford in 1C raised her hand like she was in church. "I saw it, too. That poor woman didn't do a thing.
Not one thing."