a penn state professor who was arrested on an american airlines flight after lighting a cigarette and ranting about obama said she was expressing an act of 'civil disobedience' dr karen halnon, 52, became an internet sensation after she was caught on camera lighting up shortly after a flight from nicaragua landed at miami international airport on saturday halnon said she used the moment to protest 'us military global domination,' claiming the country has 'declared war on venezuela' and was responsible for giving her hero hugo chavez cancer dr karen halnon, left in her police mugshot and right in a faculty photo, said she was expressing an act of 'civil disobedience' when she was filmed smoking and ranting about the us after her plane landed in miami  the sociology professor also said the us was after venezuela's water and oil 'i had to speak out now,' she told philadelphia magazine 'the situation is dire and urgent' 'any sacrifice i make for my own self, if it saves lives — there have been far too many lives lost due to us global military domination' halnon claims she was 'tortured' by the fbi and tsa after she was arrested in miami for disorderly conduct 'i was put in a room with two fans in the ceiling, it was freezing cold for hours and hours and hours,' she said halnon alleged she was not allowed to go to the bathroom and had to wet her pants she said she also defecated on the floor and was forced to pick it up while being 'laughed at' a number of passengers around halnon became angered after she lit up on the plane the professor said the act was a 'symbol' 'every revolutionary i know smokes,' she said 'it was identifying with the revolutionary cause 'beyond that, it is a symbol that the united states is a smoking gun' halnon also questioned how she got through security with the lighter, which she said was right on top of her book bag halnon is seen smoking onboard the flight, in a video uploaded to youtube and posted on reddit  when fellow passengers flagged down a flight attendant to complain about her unruly behavior, halnon blamed someone else for smoking and went on a  rant, saying the us had 'declared war on venezuela' 'the action was necessary,' she said 'they are going to kill many more people' during her political rant aboard the flight halnon, who said she teaches about us imperialism in latin america, equated the country's tough economic sanctions against venezuela with a declaration of war according to an eyewitness, she also allegedly said that obama 'kills people on tuesdays' halnon shouted: 'the united states has declared war on venezuela venezuela has been declared a national security threat' 'you're a national security threat,' a passenger remarked off camera 'she's gangster' another passenger said, laughing flight attendants warned the woman that the police would be waiting for her once the plane landed if she didn't calm down but she yelled louder, ranting that venezuela 'previously owned the oil in venezuela' 'my great hero hugo chavez nationalized the oil supply so that people would own the oilnot exon mobil' after she was warned again by a flight attendant that she was going to be arrested, halnon remarked 'i know already' 'they already say they are arresting me so i'm going to tell you more,' she told passengers while unbuckling her seat belt and standing up a statement from penn state on tuesday confirmed that halnon is a member of staff a flight attendant, right, warned halnon that the police would be waiting for her once the plane landed if she didn't calm down halnon said she knew she was going to be arrested and wanted to speak her piece  it said: 'penn state abington is aware of dr karen halnon’s behavior this past weekend on a flight from nicaragua and is looking into the matter' halnon teaches sociology at the school's abington campus near philadelphia, and has the rank of associate professor according to her faculty page, she is an expert on capitalism, latin america and 'mad women' dr halnon was award her phd from boston college in 1995 with a thesis about treatments for women and hysteria she has two published books, and more than 25 journal articles to her name the video of halnon was captured  by a passenger who then posted the video  to youtube and reddit the redditor, with the user name 'upside down dog', alleged that he was on the same flight as halnon when he recorded her 'they already say they are arresting me so i'm going to tell you more,' she told passengers while unbuckling her seat belt and standing up he  wrote: 'while the plane was waiting on the tarmac for the police to arrive, she leans over to me and asks for a cigarette 'she pulls one out of her bag and lights up this is the point where i pull eject and run to the back of the cabin the police arrive after 20 minutes and escort her off the plane 'she only had a single drink on the plane (however, others told me she was pounding them back pretty hard in the terminal and she also was on prescription painkillers)' halnon confirmed she only had one small bottle of wine on the plane that she said she mixed over the course of three drinks 'i wasn't drunk,' she said 'i don't need alcohol to protest this is my life'
karen halnon american airlines halnon us venezuela hugo chavez
dr karen halnon, 52, became an internet sensation after she was caught on camera lighting a cigarette and ranting on an american airlines flight . halnon said she was expressing an act of 'civil disobedience'. sociology professor said the cigarette was a 'symbol' that identified her 'revolutionary cause'. halnon said she believes us has 'declared war on venezuela' and that it gave her hero hugo chavez cancer . also claims she was put in a 'freezing cold room' for 'hours' after her arrest and was not allowed to use the bathroom 