Although he was killed by US troops last year, Osama bin Laden appears to be still haunting the Americans.
A US passenger aircraft on a domestic flight had to reverse course and return to airport after a Saudi teen age student had a heated argument with the cabin crew before he started to sing in praise for Osama.
Police arrested 19-year-old Yazeed Mohammed Abunayyan at Portland airport after the plane cut its flight to Houston, Texas, and returned to land.
Authorities at the airport were surprised to find that he was the same man who led police on a speed chase in the Southern Oregon town on Sunday, ramming two police cars and nearly hitting a pedestrian. He was accused of drunken driving and assaulting an officer but was released on bail Monday.
US newspapers said Abunayyan was indicted on charges of interfering with a flight attendant and a flight crew member specifically by refusing to stop smoking or relinquish an electronic cigarette at the request of the member or attendant, yelling profanities and swinging his fist at the flight attendant.
Abunayyan also attempted to hit several passengers and “sung about Osama bin Laden and his hatred of women,” they said, quoting a court statement.
Asked whether the FBI considers him a terrorism threat, spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said the indictment was on interfering charges, not terrorism.
Electronic cigarettes use batteries to heat a liquid nicotine solution to create a vapor for inhaling.
His cousin, who was with him during the flight, said Abunayyan suffers from schizophrenia and has not taken his medication for the past three weeks.
“I tried to stop him, but I could not,” said Fahad Alsubaie, his 21-year-old cousin, a Saudi student studying English at Southern Oregon University.