ROANOKE, Va. – A Florida man was in federal court this afternoon, accused of making a bomb threat Sunday on a Roanoke-bound flight. Authorities said Taj Malik Taylor, 27, of Largo, Florida, told another passenger his laptop was a bomb.
Taylor faces a charge of False Information and Threats and appeared in U.S. District Court in Tampa.
Court documents in the case tell a similar story to what passengers told 10 News after the plane arrived from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport Sunday night.
“We were sitting right in front of the guy and he said he had a bomb and the girl beside him just started screaming,” said Kendell Haga, who, along with her fiancé, was returning to Virginia from Florida.
That woman grabbed the laptop, which was then taken by employees on the flight. She later told law enforcement she had been drinking. Crews decided to return the flight to the airport less than an hour after takeoff.
“And they came on the plane, and they snatched the guy in the back, took him off, and we still sat there forever,” said Richard Ford, a passenger on the plane.
The incident caused such a delay that Allegiant had to find a new crew for the flight because of FAA rules, so passengers had to get off the plane and wait.
“Once we did all of that and we reboarded the plane, we got right up in the air and left,” Haga said. “But I mean, we were supposed to leave at 1 p.m. and we ended up not leaving until 6.”
Meanwhile, back in Florida, Taylor was interviewed by law enforcement.
According to court documents, he did not admit to federal agents that he made the bomb threat but said the initial witness was rude to him.
He also told agents he had recently been released from a mental health facility and was suffering from a “lack of clarity” because he had not taken his medication that day.
Social media posts from Taylor indicate he was a graduate student at Liberty University Rawlings School of Divinity. 10 News has reached out to Liberty; the school has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
For the original story, click here.
Read the entire criminal complaint below: