Virginia dad, traveling with teen daughter, friend profiled as human trafficker during Southwest flight

A Virginia father was befuddled when a Southwest Airlines crew accused him of human trafficking as he was flying home with his teen daughter and her friend following a trip to Las Vegas.John Kerrigan was boarding his connecting flight to Virginia Beach at Denver International Airport on Oct.21 alongside his 15-year-old daughter and her friend, 16, when the flight staff grew concerned.A flight attendant approached the two teens and questioned them about their relationship with Kerrigan, who had left his seat to use the plane’s restroom.

“She keeps asking if we’re all right and if we know you,” Kerrigan recalled his daughter telling him according to WAVY.“And I said it seemed strange.”Unknown to the father or the teen girls, the flight crew had contacted Norfolk International Airport and reported Kerrigan as a suspected human trafficker.The Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Light Initiative issues guidelines and training for airport and aviation crews to become familiar with the signs of human trafficking.One of the common indicators of the heinous crime includes “a non-genuine relationship: particularly with a parent or guardian and a child.”Southwest employees are trained on indicating the warning signs of human trafficking and are taught the protocols of alerting law enforcement officials, according to the airline’s website.Three police officers boarded the plane and confronted the trio arrived at the gate in Virginia.

“[They said], ‘Sir, would you follow us? We’d like to ask you some questions,’” Kerrigan said.Kerrigan found his public escort rather humiliating and contested to his removal from the flight.“I said, ‘This is offensive.’ I did find it very offensive.I mean, I hadn’t done anything wrong,” he added.Airport officials questioned Kerrigan for 20 minutes, but let him go without charging him.The Post has reached out to Southwest Airlines.In September 2023, singer David Ryan Harris was flying with his biracial ...