27 years old Taj Taylor, who is a seminary student at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, a clergyman, and an Air Force veteran as per his Instagram profile, has been taken into custody by the FBI following a comment he made about his laptop being ‘a bomb’ while being on the Allegiant Flight 1023 as it was flying to Roanoke, Virginia, from Florida. The incident happened on July 6, as authorities responded to this threat at around 2:03 p.m.
A statement has been made by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, which stated, “Detectives assigned to the Threat Management Division are assisting with a bomb threat investigation that occurred on an Allegiant flight. Detectives learned that passenger, Taj Taylor, told another passenger that his laptop was a bomb. The passenger immediately notified the flight attendants.”
The statement also mentioned that “the plane then made an emergency landing at St. Pete-Clearwater Airport in Florida at approximately 2:08 p.m. local time” as reported by PEOPLE. The detectives also mentioned that other passengers, besides the one sitting by Taj had heard him mention that he had a bomb.
After the emergency landing, Taj was thoroughly searched, along with his belongings but no bombs could be found. A spokesperson on the behalf of Allegiant Air made a statement and as reported by USA Today, he said, “Allegiant does not tolerate disruptive behavior of any kind, so the decision was made to return to the airport. The plane landed safely and was met by law enforcement officers, who took the passenger into custody. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our passengers and thank them for their patience.”
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While Taj was arrested on July 6 at around 11:23 p.m., he was released the next day as reported by PEOPLE. As per the FBI affidavit obtained by USA Today and the New York Post, Taj allegedly told the authorities that he had recently been released from a mental health facility and apparently he lacked clarity after he took his medication the previous night.
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Moreover, he did not admit to making any kinds of bomb threats. He mentioned that the passenger next to him was being rude. He is, however, being charged with making a false bomb threat and faces the possibility of having to pay a fine of $25,000 and go to prison for up to 5 years, as reported by USA Today.
