Messianic Jewish author Jonathan Cahn says he was the unidentified passenger involved in a mid-air altercation last week that led to a man being duct-taped to his seat and facing criminal charges, characterizing the incident as “the forces of darkness” trying to prevent him from getting his message out.
In a video Monday, Cahn revealed his role in an airline confrontation that resulted in Arthur Wayne Lundeen, 67, being duct-taped to his seat and facing criminal charges of disorderly conduct and second-degree assault. The video began with Cahn summarizing the headlines of stories about an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Newark that was diverted to Baltimore after a “man duct taped to seat went crazy on the flight after shouting racial slurs.”
Cahn alleged that the media depiction of the incident “doesn’t even begin to touch what really happened.” The incident occurred two days after the release of Cahn’s latest book, The Altar of Pergamon: The Mystery of the Dark Angel and the Future of the World. He prefaced his discussion about the confrontation by stating that supernatural events often seem to happen every time he releases a book.
After describing his latest book as “a big colossal mystery” that consists of “a man and a woman uncovering the mystery to bring it to the world” as “forces of darkness” seek to “stop them from bringing it to the world,” he contended that the “forces of the dark” were targeting him because he was “bringing that same mystery to the world now.”
In addition to the incident on the plane, Cahn noted how a “large vertical rectangular blotch of darkness” appeared on his computer as he flew out to Dallas a few days earlier and his cell phone shut down when he tried to make a call.
On the flight from Dallas to Newark, Cahn said he sat next to Lundeen, who asked him about his books. Lundeen expressed confidence that his wife, who “loves to read,” would “love” his book. The two engaged in small talk discussing their respective families. Cahn eventually brought up his role as a minister, which prompted Lundeen to tell him “I don’t believe.”
Lundeen attributed his lack of belief to his experiences with “religious hypocrites.” While Cahn attempted to stress that “Religious hypocrites are not Jesus” and encouraged him not to “let religious hypocrites keep you from Him,” Lundeen insisted that “I’m a good person” and asked “Why do I need to do something else to go to Heaven?”
Cahn said he shared his conversion story with Lundeen, which involved the author committing to Jesus after getting hit by a train, and sought to talk about how he met his wife.
“When I told him about these things, the Gospel and the power and the reality of God, at that moment, in an instant, everything changed,” Cahn stated. Cahn said Lundeen whispered the word “Bulls—” in his ear in response to his conversion story.
“Are you saying I made it up?” Cahn asked him. Lundeen remained insistent that it was not true, before using Jesus name in vain. Lundeen also allegedly berated Cahn with a round of expletives.
The author says the passenger was “filled with rage and fury” directed at him.
“I have no question. It was the hatred and the rage and the fury of the enemy,” Cahn said.
While Cahn sought to detach himself from the situation and work on his computer, Lundeen began “cursing God” and “cursing Jesus” as well as cursing Cahn, he said. This prompted Cahn to direct a “Shhh” at him and warned him: “You’re going to get in trouble and you don’t know. You don’t want to say those things. We’re all going to stand before Him.”
As Cahn tried to work on his computer, Lundeen asked him “What’s that dark space?”
“He takes his hand and knocks the computer two times like he’s just testing, but he knocks it.” Cahn shared a picture documenting how after Lundeen touched the computer, the dark spot began “blacking out most of the screen.”
“When the first dark patch appeared on my screen, it’s when I was getting ready to take off from New Jersey. It had nothing to do with the guy,” Cahn explained. “This guy on the plane is finishing what began that day. He’s finishing that job. In the natural, those two things could not be connected. But in the spiritual realm, things are connected.”
After Cahn began trying to work despite the damaged computer, Lundeen became loud and began “disturbing everybody in that part of the plane.”
The flight attendant came over and told him to stop, which caused Lundeen to shout “vulgarities” at him. The flight attendant told Lundeen “I’m going to record that,” which he thinks may have been the point when he uttered the racial slur that was at the center of media coverage of the incident.
Cahn dismissed the racial slur as “just a symptom of what was happening” rather than “the reason he ended up being duct taped” as was portrayed by the media.
While Lundeen became friendly again, the mood change did not last long as he put his hands on Cahn’s neck as if he was going to choke him. After this happened, the flight attendant instructed Lundeen to “Turn to the window and don’t engage anybody.”
When Cahn showed Lundeen the cover of the book on his computer, he became belligerent again by “blaspheming Jesus.” Lundeen got up and asked female passengers on the plane “Do you believe in Jesus?” He also threatened to punch Cahn’s “Jewish face in” before he began actually hitting him.
As the situation escalated, Cahn maintained that he heard a voice say: “The enemy, the devil, hates your computer. He’s going to use this man to try to grab it and destroy it.” Cahn tried to protect his computer but the man “violently” lunged toward him and the computer “as if he had a mission that he has to destroy that computer.”
While Lundeen sought to grab the computer from Cahn’s hand, the author said he used all of his “might” to maintain control of it. Cahn painted a picture of an out-of-control situation where “the plane is in shock” and “everybody around us says the pilot is radioing the ground for an emergency landing.”
After chanting “stop it,” Cahn successfully wrestled the computer away from Lundeen. Lundeen pulled Cahn’s arm, which he had previously dislocated, causing two other passengers on the plane to intervene. While Lundeen “got violent with them,” the flight attendants duct-taped his mouth shut and duct-taped him to the seat. After the plane made an emergency landing in Baltimore, Maryland, Lundeen was arrested by law enforcement and released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on Oct. 19.
Following Lundeen’s arrest, the plane continued on to Newark. For the latter portion of the flight, Cahn said he ended up sitting next to a man who was a “believer” who assured him that he was “being tested” by God.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
