ARIZONA – A former FBI agent’s tweet on a Southwest Airlines Muslim employee has sparked uproar, with the company condemning it as “cruel and inappropriate.”
“We pride ourselves on our People-focused Culture fostered by the most caring and loving Employees in the world, and the Southwest Family stands strong with our Employee who was the target of this cruel and inappropriate post,” a spokesperson for the airline wrote, Arizona Central reported.
“At Southwest, we stand for embracing civility and living by the Golden Rule, and we ask our customers to do the same.”
At Southwest, we stand for embracing civility and living by the Golden Rule, and we ask our Customers to do the same.
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) March 25, 2018
The problem started after John Guandolo posted a tweet picturing the unidentified worker as he traveled to the Western Conservative Conference in Phoenix on Friday.
“I wish this were shocking…a sharia adherent Muslim (aka jihadi) at my plane,” he wrote, adding the hashtag “#shariakills.”
Guandolo tagged President Donald Trump, national security adviser John Bolton, the Department of Homeland Security and others in the tweet.
Twitter users began calling Southwest’s attention to the post, urging the company to ban Guandolo from future flights.
I wouldn’t board a plane with @JohnGuandolo – he is a clear and present danger to safety
— Joker Kim (@DriftContinent) March 25, 2018
How dare you, Mr Guandolo. Shame on you.
— Ellen Datlow (@EllenDatlow) March 24, 2018
It was not inappropriate. It was racist, vile, and defamatory. Do more.
— hillary ☘️ (@hillofbeans17) March 25, 2018
Not to mention I work side by side with this man and if anyone in this company shows a Warrior Spirit, Fun-LUVing attitude and a Servants heart, it’s this man.
— Luke Oldham (@LukeOldham25) March 25, 2018
Guandolo made headlines in 2014 when Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery came under fire for hiring him for a training session.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and several Muslim community leaders protested the training, which Guandolo claimed would reveal the truth about Muslim terrorist groups.
In 2017, the Arizona Police Association used a grant from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to pay for a similar “anti-jihad” law-enforcement seminar in Mesa, led by Guandolo.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged the APA to cancel the seminar, contending that Guandolo regularly put Muslims at risk by making false claims about them.