California man jailed Thanksgiving eve after mask dispute on Delta flight, reports say

A California man was arrested Nov. 25 after he refused to wear a face mask on a flight, news outlets reported.

Joshua Colby Council, 44, of San Francisco boarded a Delta flight from Salt Lake City International Airport to San Francisco on the day before Thanksgiving, SFGate reported.

He rushed past a gate agent and ran to his seat, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. The agent followed him and asked him to put on a mask, the news outlet reported.

Council refused to put on a mask, which is known to slow the spread of COVID-19, “for unknown reasons,” according to the Deseret News. Multiple people onboard, including the captain, tried to get Council to wear a mask before he was escorted off the plane, ABC 4 reported.

“Police were summoned after Delta management determined (Council) was no longer welcome aboard the aircraft and needed to be escorted off the plane,” according to the affidavit obtained by the Deseret News. “Defendant refused to disembark when requested to do so by Delta employees.”

The flight departed after a 45-minute delay, SFGate reported. Council was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for investigation of disorderly conduct and released the next morning, according to the news outlet.

“We apologize to customers for the delay on Flight 1382 on Wednesday as a passenger was removed from the flight for mask non-compliance,” Delta told ABC 4 in a statement. “There is nothing more important than the safety of our people and customers.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 6:13 PM with the headline "California man jailed Thanksgiving eve after mask dispute on Delta flight, reports say."