White mom stopped by airport cops SUES Southwest for 'blatant racism'

White mother stopped by cops at airport and accused of ‘human trafficking her 10-year-old black daughter’ while flying to family funeral SUES Southwest for ‘blatant racism’

• Mary MacCarthy and her biological daughter Moira, 10 at the time, were flying to a funeral on October 22, 2021, after the sudden death of her brother
• She was confronted by a Southwest worker and two police officers at Denver International Airport who suspected the child was being trafficked
• MacCarthy, who is a single mom, works in tech and lives in LA, was left shaken by the accusation and filed a lawsuit in Colorado on Thursday against Southwest

A white mother who was stopped by police officers at the airport and accused of human trafficking her mixed-race daughter has sued Southwest Airlines for ‘blatant racism’. 

Mary MacCarthy and her biological daughter Moira, 10 at the time, were flying to a funeral on October 22, 2021, after the sudden death of her brother. 

She was confronted by a Southwest worker at Denver International Airport who suspected the child was being trafficked. 

The mother and daughter were met on the jet bridge by two police officers and questioned before eventually being let go.

But MacCarthy, who is a single mom, works in tech and lives in LA, was left shaken by the accusation and filed a lawsuit in Colorado on Thursday against Southwest. 

A white mother who was stopped by police officers at the airport and accused of human trafficking her mixed-race daughter has sued Southwest Airlines for ‘blatant racism’ 

Mary MacCarthy and her biological daughter Moira, 10 at the time, were flying to a funeral on October 22, 2021, after the sudden death of her brother 

MacCarthy, who is a single mom, works in tech and lives in LA, was left shaken by the accusation and filed a lawsuit in Colorado on Thursday against Southwest

MacCarthy sobbed throughout the confrontation with officers and explained to police Moira was her daughter and showed identification. At the time, she said she was left shaken by the accusation. 

She alleged in the lawsuit that the child trafficking allegations came ‘for no reason other than the different color of her daughter’s skin from her own’.

The family said the attendants did not question them about their relationship on the flight.

The incident caused ‘extreme emotional distress,’ according to the lawsuit and the family are seeking economic damages, compensatory damages, as well as punitive and exemplary damages. 

However, the police officers have not been named in the lawsuit as they were polite and professional.

MacCarthy has accused Southwest Airlines of interfering on their contract based on race, resulting in a civil rights violation. 

‘To this day, when Moira and I are out in public—and especially at airports or on planes—I’m hyperaware that we might be judged and reported for any interaction we have with each other,’ she told Newsweek. 

‘It’s a strange feeling to be on alert about your most basic behaviors with your child, and it’s exhausting. As for Moira [who is now 12], she still clams up and doesn’t want to talk about what happened.’

Their attorney David Lane said the lawsuit was filed to bring accountability and get the company to re-examine its training and policies. 

‘In using racial profiling to cause the Denver police to stop innocent travelers, Southwest Airlines has attempted to address serious the criminal activity of sex-trafficking through use of a stereotypical, easy formula, he said.  

‘Just as the police are constitutionally not permitted to stop-and-frisk young men of color based upon their race, corporate America is similarly not permitted to resort to such profiling to use law enforcement to stop and question racially diverse families simply based upon their divergent races, which is what Southwest did.’

MacCarthy filmed the incident at the time and the clip shows a Southwest staffer and two airport cops explain why MacCarthy and her biological daughter have been pulled aside.

According to the police report, the attendant told police she was suspicious due to the fact that the mother-daughter duo were the last to board the plane – and because MacCarthy asked other passengers to move seats so she could sit next to her daughter

The attendant also told officers that the pair did not speak to each other once during the entire flight, the report states

‘It’s okay sweetheart,’ the concerned mother can be heard saying in the three-minute video as her daughter repeatedly sobs with fear after being confronted by the two armed officers and the Southwest rep.

The concerned mom could also be heard saying: ‘I have a daughter, who has unfortunately already been traumatized by police in her life.’

During the encounter, MacCarthy was told by the officers that another Southwest Airlines employee reported the single mom of ‘suspicious behavior’ – with a police report filed after the incident indicating that both the airline and police suspected the single mom of ‘trafficking’ the child.

Maddened by such an insinuation, MacCarthy slammed both the airline and the Denver Police Department, saying the anonymous staffer’s suspicion was a ‘racist assumption about a mixed-race family.’

According to the police report, the attendant told police she was suspicious due to the fact that the mother-daughter duo were the last to board the plane – and because MacCarthy asked other passengers to move seats so she could sit next to her daughter.

The attendant also told officers that the pair did not speak to each other once during the entire flight, the report states.

According to the police report and MacCarthy’s own account, the officers sought to question the two after the Southwest Airlines employee deemed the duo suspicious, and reported MacCarthy as a potential human trafficker to her supervisors

The police report states that MacCarthy then explained to the officers that the pair were grieving and traveling to see family, and that ten-year-old Moira, who cried throughout the encounter, was indeed her daughter

At the time, Southwest said in a statement: ‘We were disheartened to learn of this mother’s account when traveling with her daughter.

‘We were disheartened to learn of this mother’s account when traveling with her daughter.

‘We are conducting a review of the situation internally, and we will be reaching out to the customer to address her concerns and offer our apologies for her experience traveling with us.’

It added that its employees receive ‘robust training’ on human trafficking.  

MacCarthy said: ‘In our interactions with Southwest Airlines since the incident, and with the information revealed in the bodycam footage, I’ve felt attacked as a mother and frankly as a human being.

‘Customers should know the true nature of the company they’re doing business with.’

Southwest Airlines said it does not have any comment on the pending litigation. 

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