Controversial ‘doomsday prophet’ who triggered man duct-taped to plane seat speaks out

It’s now been revealed that the incident on an American Airlines plane that resulted in a man being duct-taped to his seat allegedly started over a religious comment made by a controversial “doomsday prophet,” who has spoken out. 

An Arizona man who has been identified Arthur “Layne” Lundeen, allegedly kicked off on board American Airlines flight 618 from Dallas to Newark on 3rd September. When things turned physical and violent, two passengers sitting in the rows behind used duct tape and zip ties to restrain him in his seat.

The flight made an emergency landing in Baltimore, and he was removed from the plane, arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and second-degree assault, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police said. He has now been released and is due to appear in court on 19th October, and has since lost his job in real estate. 

In the latest turn of events, the passenger sitting next to Lundeen was actually a Messianic rabbi called Jonathan Cahn, who’s known for his controversial books and has been dubbed a “doomsday prophet”. 

 

 

 

 

 

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One of Cahn’s controversial books, The Harbinger, argues that an ancient Bible verse predicted the 9/11 terrorist attacks, while its follow-up, Mystery of the Shemitah, is a doomsday book about a 3,000-year-old biblical seven-year cycle that supposedly dictates huge disasters.

He posted a YouTube video on Monday titled “Jonathan Cahn Attacked on Flight 618! By The Duct Taped Man! The True Demonic Story!” where he explained his side of the story. 

“I was the unidentified passenger and I was actually attacked, 30,000 feet in the sky. I was attacked on that plane. I have never seen someone change in a split second from light to dark as I saw then, as if something had taken him over. He went from the friendliest guy in the world to this dark person,” he alleged. 

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Cahn claimed he had his newest novel open on his laptop, The Altar of Pergamon, and the front cover “triggered” Lundeen. They had initially been chatting normally about religion for two hours, but as soon as he saw the cover, things changed.

Credit: Jonathan Cahn/YouTube

The prophetic-thriller book is about the ancient altar, which is said to be “where Satan’s throne is”. In the book, Cahn argues that after the ancient altar was excavated and transported to Germany, major world powers began to shift. He links this with the rise of the Third Reich and world wars.

Cahn alleged that he mentioned “the reality of the real power of god on Earth and in our lives,” which angered Lundeen and left him “cursing Jesus” and “blaspheming Jesus and God.” He alleged that Lundeen started shouting: “It’s all bulls**t. Jesus is bulls**t.”

The rabbi claimed that the man grew angrier and angrier and started hitting the laptop. “The plane is in shock, the pilot is radioing the ground, for an emergency landing. We’re fighting over my computer,” he said.

The investigation by the FBI is still ongoing. 

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Featured image credit: @richardolenick/Instagram and