A Los Angeles woman is facing a federal assault charge after she allegedly punched and spit on a man aboard a recent Delta Air Lines flight following a mask dispute.
Patricia Cornwall was detained Thursday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after passengers told authorities that she had caused a disturbance on Flight 2790 from Tampa.
Video shared to social media appears to show Cornwall, 51, slapping a male passenger across the face during an argument over masks.
The man told investigators that the maskless woman, who mockingly compared herself to Rosa Parks and told him to put on his mask as he was eating and drinking, also spit on his face and head, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.
“This disturbance [led] to the injury of fellow passengers and Delta employees,” the Atlanta Police Department said in a news release.
The complaint, filed in the Northern District of Georgia, accuses Cornwall of “assault by striking, beating, or wounding” the male passenger, who is identified only as “R.S.M.” Cornwall, who made her first court appearance Monday, could face up to a year in prison and a fine up to $100,000 if she is found guilty of the Class A misdemeanor.
She did not submit a plea during her initial court appearance.
Cornwall declined to comment Tuesday but said she and her attorney, Millie Dunn, would issue a public statement in the coming days. Dunn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I appreciate you reaching out to me as I do feel my side needs to be told,” Cornwall wrote in a text message to The Washington Post…….
https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/28/delta-mask-dispute-assault-cornwall/