Iron Mike Tyson was once the ‘baddest man on the planet.’ Based on his behavior on a recent JetBlue flight, he’s still at least second behind Bill O’Reilly.
On Wednesday evening Tyson flew JetBlue from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale. The man sitting behind him in business class wouldn’t stop talking with him. It began with Tyson agreeing to take a selfie, but when passengers wouldn’t leave him alone Tyson let them know he’d have enough. It continued, and Tyson had got up and began giving the man behind him a beat down. Going full-on Joe Lewis, he drew blood.
At this point the flight hadn’t even taken off yet.
The passenger who got the beat down, who was reportedly intoxicated, sought medical attention and went to the police. Tyson left the flight as well.
Sometimes I like to be left alone inflight, to nap or work, but that’s what noise cancelling headphones – not fists of fury – are for.
Tyson won his first 18 professional fights by knockout. Most of those were in the first round. He’s the youngest ever to win a heavyweight title. When he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds it was the only thing the entire country was talking about.
But his behavior outside the ring made him an anti-hero at best. And his behavior inflight shows that – while passengers around him can be perhaps just as bad, a boxer’s desire to box is no longer acceptable when an aggrieved husband can’t even slap Chris Rock on national television. When you go Cassius Clay on a JetBlue Mint flight it’s going to get recorded and you’re going to come out the bad guy.
(HT: Live and Let’s Fly)
At least he didn’t bite his ear.
Regardless, he guy may not get an autograph, but I suspect he’ll get some Tyson cash.
I knew this would happen the minute the mask mandate ended!
I sat in front of him in business years ago. Literally every idiot guy on the plane felt the need to interrupt his conversation with his wife and babble the same stuff to him. It’s pretty annoying. At some point my headphone case accidentally dropped off the seat arm onto the floor by the Tysons mid flight. I popped my head behind and before I could ask for it back, he gave me a look like he was going to kill me, assuming I was going to try to talk to him.
Former heavyweight champ, convicted rapist, yeah, a real role model. Of course, I can almost understand what this bully/thug did – he hasn’t won a fight in a long time and I guess he thought that punching a man who is sitting down would ensure that at least he would get credited with a draw. I hope they put him back in prison where he belongs.
I’m on team Mike here. You act like a fool and expect consequences.
The kid acted like a stupid d!ck, but still no excuse for violence. The man is clearly mentally ill, and has now proven himself to be a danger to others. To compare Bill O’Reilly’s verbal fusillade to Tyson’s attack in absolutely any way, is misguided.
Tyson’s lawyers, or his insurance company’s lawyers, are going to have to argue that the annoying, rapping drunkard negligently contributed to the assault by being provocative to such extent that he should have anticipated the likelihood of an escalation in response and may have been hoping for a payout going into his harassment of Tyson.
GU – Tyson’s hands are considered a lethal weapon, just like a gun. He belongs back in prison.
David Miller, did you miss your Klan meeting this month?
GU – did you misplace your morals? Apparently you are a liberal who is trying to bring race into a conversation about a thug who beats up people for whatever reason. Go back to your “safe place” and troll someone else who will tolerate your stupidity.
If they were still on the ground, Tyson should have asked to have the passenger removed, not take it into his own fists. Isn’t being drunk on a plane a removable offense?
FWIW, you would think airlines would have VIP protocols in place to let FAs know when a known person was on the plane so they could somewhat protect people from getting harassed. If I were a VIP who got recognized, I know I’d favor an airline that somewhat protected me and I’m sure that any civilian seated near them doesn’t appreciate the constant harassment either. And I say this as someone who doesn’t particularly like the way VIPs are catered to, but everyone deserves their privacy if they just want to be left alone.
Tyson will probably have to pay some bucks. My question is, where was the FA when Tyson was being harassed? @Gary, what is the proper way to handle this if you are a celebrity?
Simple question, David Miller:
“David Miller, did you miss your Klan meeting this month?”
Your non-answer response may get a pass from the stupid and immoral, but it doesn’t get a pass from me.
I’ve never flown JetBlue, but it’s becoming my new favorite airline.
The JetBlue flight crew seems a bit MIA when they should have be telling the rapping, drunk monkey to sit down and stop with his being disruptive and harassing another passenger.
And Tyson should be considered for prosecution for assault, but that leaves to a state/local or federal prosecutor the question of whether a prosecution should happen or not.
At least Mike Tyson didn’t resort to the jaws of life and bite his ear off.
You’re soaking in it!
i am not defending violence, but when someone wants to be left alone and is provoked by a another passenger, this is what happens. sorry for the folks who no doubt were delayed due to the shared misconduct of both.
This is not a case of “shared misconduct”
This is a case of a convicted felon rapist using violence in response to a perceived annoyance.
If you or I as non-public figures committed the same action in response to the same perceived slight, you or I would be summarily arrested and charged with assault which is punished heavily in the state of California.
Newsflash, commercial air travel is shared transportation which means you are in the midst of your fellow human beings.
Some of your fellow human beings are pleasant, and some of them are annoying. YOU ARE NEVER ENTITLED TO USE VIOLENCE unless you are responding to imminent physical harm which Tyson by his own admission did not face (he had a “water bottle” thrown at him per his spokesperson’s written statement to the press).
TYSON WAS CONVICTED OF RAPE AND SPENT THREE YEARS IN PRISON.
Everybody saying “this is what happens” is expressing implicit tolerance for the status quo of using violence against people you don’t like. THIS IS ANATHEMA TO CIVILIZED SOCIETY.
Yes, if you provoke a convict with a violent history, you are at risk of facing violence. It should not be this way and it does not have to be this way if we enforce the laws that provide our civilization with some order and separate us from wild animals.
On Mike Tyson’s side. When someone tells you on a plane to leave them alone…and you come from behind/above him continuing to harass him…your contributing to any altercation.
Repeat after me.
YOU DO NOT GET TO USE VIOLENCE AGAINST ANYBODY EXCEPT AS A LAST RESORT TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM IMMINENT PHYSICAL DANGER which was not claimed by any party (aggressor, victim, or bystander) in the current context, so is irrelevant.
YOU DO NOT GET TO USE VIOLENCE AGAINST ANYBODY EXCEPT AS A LAST RESORT TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM IMMINENT PHYSICAL DANGER.
Mike Tyson is a convict and a rapist.
YOU DO NOT GET TO USE VIOLENCE AGAINST ANYBODY EXCEPT AS A LAST RESORT TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM IMMINENT PHYSICAL DANGER.
This means we don’t get to punch Mike Tyson just because we find him annoying.
YOU DO NOT GET TO USE VIOLENCE AGAINST ANYBODY EXCEPT AS A LAST RESORT TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM IMMINENT PHYSICAL DANGER.
Any critique of the behavior of the victim is a distraction and not relevant, just as a rape victim’s behavior or dress is irrelevant. A victim is a victim and the blame rests fully on the aggressor in such contexts as the one presently being discussed.
The “negligence” of the victim is also a complete non factor. Negligence only applies in cases of, say, a vehicle and pedestrian accident where the pedestrian was not paying due attention to the road. And there are only some jurisdictions which even allow for that, in other cases if a car strikes a person it is the car’s fault period.
All of that has nothing to do with rape or assault, so let’s get back to the current topic of assignment of fault.
Mike Tyson 100%
Victim 0%
Oh, and the JetBlue flight attendants are not nannies or schoolteachers, they have no duty to intervene. Having said that JetBlue does have a general duty to provide a safe air travel environment and they may have shirked on this responsibility. The victim’s lawyer should be able to extract a few million USD from JetBlue above and beyond the damages to be paid by Tyson.
ayenus – You are 100% correct. Tyson belongs in prison.
Just the latest version of dumb and dumber. If Tyson were normal, he would have boarded last and had a little ‘protection’ from the crew. But probably nobody wanted to give him any assistance … why mess with a vicious animal?
“a boxer’s desire to box is no longer acceptable when an aggrieved husband can’t even slap Chris Rock on national television”
No longer acceptable? Can’t even?
Yearning for casual violence as the norm.
Knock-out in the first round indeed!
Looks like the harasser got what he deserved.
Tyson probably has Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Mr. Tyson had been sited at San Francisco’s 420 ‘festival’ in Golden Gate park earlier that day. Maybe he was tired after a long day in the park in the sunshine ?
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Mike-Tyson-appears-at-San-Francisco-s-420-17113493.php
Tyson should have knocked the idiot out cold. That would have shut him up. Loudmouth drunks on planes bother all and offend everyone. If the FA’s can’t (or won’t) shut them up, then the pax will. And it will be deserved.
@ayenus pester me like that on a flight and see what happens
Mike should have left it at a slap.
I can see it now – in the future passengers will start wailing on any and all who they say bothered them and then justify it because Tyson beat up a seated passenger. Anyone else see the complete stupidity here? To those who condone this type of thug behavior, I wonder what you will say if you get your ass beat by some thug because they did not like what you said.
“On Wednesday evening Tyson flew JetBlue from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale”
Nobody else caught this error yet?
and to @Ayenus: I’ll avoid hiring you to represent me.
They both should have been kicked off the plane & cited for their individual crimes. Tyson has terms & benchmarks to his release from prison. He should be subject to much more punishment than a non-felon per said terms, which is what he deserves. Period. You can trial him for rape as many times as you want in your heads but he has already paid his debt to society for that crime. If you think he should be prosocuted more than once, go back to your fake internet law school or at least read a pocket constitution before running your mouth.
The phrase “paid his debt to society” is bullshit. Criminals may serve the time they receive for their crimes, but serving the time does not “pay the debt” – tell that bullshit to people who have been attacked, maimed, had their life destroyed, raped or to those who had lost a family member and see how they feel about the ludicrous phrase “paid their debt”. – it only means that the criminal has served their time. How in the hell can you call committing a crime a “debt” is asinine. Also, prior past behavior should be allowed to be brought up in a trial – it is relevant to the criminal behavior of a repeat law breaker. Liberals have ruined the justice system with their weak sentencing and parole decisions. Just look around at all of the crimes and murders that have been and are being committed by paroled criminals. I can guarantee you this, let any of these bleeding heart morons have a crime committed to them or to one of their loved ones and see what they have to say and how they feel about the criminal who gets off , paroled or a light sentence for the crime that was committed.
Just want to add that I’ve checked with my resident attorney and they say that IF the guy threw a water bottle at Tyson first, it makes all the difference. Sure, he should have reported the guy to the FAs, but once the guy starts the assault, and throwing the water bottle is an assault, Tyson pretty much has every right to defend himself. You don’t get to throw the water bottle, then call timeout. Tyson doesn’t get to kill him, but he can subdue him to the point he’s no longer a threat.
FWIW, it’s now reported that the guy he beat up is pretty much a douchebag with a violent history. We’re not talking choirboy here.
C_M- I find it hilarious that you would add that the beat up guy was a ‘douchebag” – Apparently Tyson, being a convicted rapist, ear biting, numerous times arrested thug – and you don’t and didn’t call him a “douchebag”. Both of them may/are “dochebags” – but that does not justify what Tyson did. The water bottle throwing, so far a rumor, but if true, when was it thrown and why if it was?
@David Miller – Even douchebags have the right to defend themselves from other douchebags. Who was defending themselves from whom remains to be seen.
C_M – stop with the bullshit.
@David Miller – Okay, Inspector Javert.
@Dave longer We have the highest rate of recitivism in the world. It’s not liberal or concervative so stop scapegoating. Reps & Dems have both gotten it wrong. WE as a country have no clue what we’re doing. You seem like a smart enough guy to know that.
C_M – you are welcome. Mr. Delusional.
@WB: What do you mean? Beatings on planes happened constantly when the mask mandate was on! Ask flight attendants. Wow.
Yeah, what a real man he is! I’m so impressed that he’d savagely beat up a drunk person. What’s next, a yipping puppy? An old woman? My gosh, grow up.
Bullys advocate for Tyson, – Everyone else condemns him
What I love is the poor, innocent, wasted, asshole victim’s ‘wounded and sad and now I’m in the $” look at the end. Tyson is well known to be an animal – if you rile him like that.you’re a fool.
@David Miller – Until all the facts are in, perhaps it would be wise to take a measured look. Tyson, might, or might not be justified in his actions. This constant need to have a hot take based on a fragmentary video is not a good trend. On the other hand, you could just side with the white guy against the POC…
C_M – Please tell me how you justify a former heavyweight champion punching a man, multiple times, sitting in an airplane seat? Tell me…
C_M,
David Miller hasn’t said when he last attended his Klan meeting. He’d fit right in.
C_M – Better hurry, the short bus is waiting for you…
@David Miller – By short bus, I assume you mean the shuttle bus to the rental car terminal.
Forget that Tyson is the former heavyweight champion, he’s now a civilian, though a famous one. And even if he were still a professional boxer, the idea that his hands are “lethal weapons” is a myth. A boxer, even an active one, has the same right to self-defense as any other person. A court might take into account a boxer’s talents if he maimed or killed someone in a fight, but he still retains the same right to self-defense as anyone else. The idiot bugging him can’t claim he didn’t know who Tyson was, otherwise he wouldn’t be bugging him. The guy got a little bloodied, if Tyson wanted to inflict real damage, he certainly knows how, so you can say that his response was measured. The question then is, was it justified? That we don’t know, it’s an open legal question.
The two most likely scenarios are: 1. The guy was just pestering Tyson and Tyson decided he’d had enough, so started whaling on him. That would be assault on Tyson’s part. 2. The guy was pestering Tyson, Tyson put up with it for awhile, then told the guy to knock it off, the guy then threw the water bottle at him, presumably over the seat, and probably hit him in the head or upper body. That’s assault on the part of the guy and it triggers Tyson’s right to self-defense. He’s now under physical assault and doesn’t know that it’s going to end. An attorney will make the argument that anyone, including Tyson, then has the right to counterattack to stop the assault. That’s pretty much black letter, English common law and part of just about every other legal code in the world. He hit him a couple of times, he didn’t knock him unconscious, then he stopped. If this is the scenario, I don’t see a criminal or civil case against Tyson – his status as a former (or even current) professional boxer makes no difference.
If you want to see how far self-defense cases go, all the way to lethality, see Rittenhouse. You start a fight, you open a can of worms. Stop focusing on Tyson’s profession, that makes no difference in the eyes of the law. He attacks without a physical assault, Tyson is guilty of assault, he responds to a physical attack, Tyson has the right to self-defense.
C_M — A CLASSIC barrage of total BULLSHIT – from a moron who wasn’t there who is too ignorant to realize just how ignorant he is. You are a perfect example of “Better to remain silent and be thought to be a fool that to speak and remove all doubt”.
David Miller – Ahh, thank you for your precise legal argument that my reasoning is nothing but BS without making any case for that whatsoever. There is a saying in law – when the facts are on your side, pound the facts; when the law is on your side, pound the law; and when neither is on your side, pound the table.
There’s a whole lot of table pounding on your side. And Tyson hasn’t been charged with anything yet.
@C_M is the only rational guy left on this blog. The rule of law prevails, just as @C_M correctly points out. The law isn’t predicated on a popularity contest. Just because someone dislikes Mike Tyson doesn’t change the law.
C_M & DFWSteve –You guys are so full of shit. Tell me just how the “rule of law’ applies the next time YOU are in the process of getting your face punched in – I can see it now as you scream ” a court of law will find you not guilty” as you get you ass beat –both of you are really obtuse.
@David Miller – I think most of us refrain from throwing bottles or punches at people, and it has been my observation that if you do that, you are unlikely to get your face punched in or your ass beat. That rule has worked well since I was 10. But it does make me wonder what the hell you’ve been up to…
C_M – apparently you were there and saw the bottle thrown – if one was. Even so, that does not justify Tyson punching a seated passenger. I have nothing more to ad for I have stated, with clarity, the truth of the situation. You may now spew whatever you like.
@David Miller – You are so wrapped up in your narrative that it has affected your reading comprehension and you have no ability to admit you might be wrong. I have laid out two, if not three scenarios, one where Tyson is guilty of assault, one where he has the right of self defense, and one where we just don’t know, it would be a judgment call. You seem to think there can be no justification for what he did, which is just flat out wrong as a matter of law.
Yes, I have no idea if a bottle was thrown – neither do you. No bottle, almost certainly no justification, depending on what was said. (I caveat that because there are some words that, if said, are going to trigger a person, and we all know what words those are. No one is claiming that here, but it’s unlikely a jury is going to convict someone based on using those words in a hostile manner.) Throw the bottle accidently or just playing with it, again, no justification. But get in the middle of a verbal altercation with a guy, then throw a water bottle at him, self-defense, even if you are seated on a plane and the other guy is Mike Tyson. (I will also note that there is probably a reason this was filmed, as there was probably quite a disturbance beforehand, which we don’t see. One just doesn’t ordinarily film things on a plane while waiting for takeoff, it’s pretty boring.)
Sorry, but you’re just flat out wrong on this. As they say, the facts will likely speak for themselves here. Any outcome is possible at this point, but so far, the facts are starting to line up for Tyson, and they originally didn’t. I have just laid out the possible scenarios – other than that, let’s all take a deep breath and let the rest of the story come out. Just be prepared for it not to go your way, so buy some Preparation H, because you might get butthurt.
C_M – Are you through patting yourself on the back? First of all, I am not wrong. Secondly, you should rub some of that Preparation H on your lips as they must be chapped from all of the crap spewing from your mouth.
Did I miss something? Did Tyson report the passenger threw a bottle of water at him? Did other passengers report the guy threw a bottle of water at Tyson?