Three Orthodox Jewish passengers were asked to leave a JetBlue plane just before takeoff on New Year’s Eve, the Forward reported. 

The incident occurred after an elderly male in the group, who had been assigned a seat next to a woman, asked another passenger to switch seats with him for “religious purposes.” The other passenger, Ron Passaro, said he had been happy to oblige, and he knew of no complaints from other passengers. 

A security official then asked the group to leave the plane, saying the captain and crew had made the decision because “changing seats is a violation” and “you have to sit in your assigned seats.”

Passaro’s girlfriend, Rachel Sklar, who witnessed the incident, posted about it on X, formerly Twitter, where she asked, “Why is @JetBlue ejecting orthodox Jewish passengers for asking to change seats? I’ve been sitting here the whole time and it was fine.” 

In comments to the Forward, Sklar said, “They said obviously this is clearly antisemitism, and I was like, ‘It sure seems like it to me.’ The whole thing was really upsetting. It seemed very unnecessary and kind of bewildering.”