Air Rage: Congressman Crenshaw Loses it Over Pet Carrier

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Air Rage: Congressman Crenshaw Loses it Over Pet Carrier

24 January 2024

Tara Blake, the wife of Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-Houston), has gone viral for a video in which she appears to physically assault a ticket Counter Agent working at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

Ironically, the video of the attack went viral after being shared by her husband, Congressman Dan Crenshaw himself. As of Wednesday afternoon, Crenshaw’s video of his wife attacking the Ticket Agent had been viewed more than 4 million times.

Surveillance footage shows an unidentified United Ticket Counter Agent, possibly a supervisor, trying to pull a yellow notice, called a “Pet Travel Policy Tag,” from a dog carrier as Blake and her mother attempted to check two dogs at the IAH Ticket Counter.

The dogs, a pair of mixed breeds named “Joey,” and “Luna,” whom Crenshaw identifies as rescue dogs, were stuffed into small soft-sided carriers that would not have permitted the animals to stand or turn around during the flight.

It is unclear how many dogs were actually involved. In the beginning of the post, Crenshaw claims there were “a pair of small dogs,” involved. Later in the post he stops referring to two dogs, and only mentions one, a mixed-breed dog named “Joey.”

To prevent animal cruelty, United Airlines does not allow pets that cannot comfortably fit beneath a passenger seat. According to United Policy, a pet carrier must slide easily under the seat, and the pet must be able to stand up and turn around without being removed from its crate or bag.

The Ticket Counter Agent had no choice but to uphold company policy and follow laws related to animal cruelty. 

While Crenshaw’s dog, Joey, is a smaller breed, it is still too large to fit under the seat on a commercial airline. Photos of Joey that Crenshaw has posted online make this clear.

The entire available space for a dog is only 18 inches deep, by 14 inches by 8 inches. This space must accommodate not just the animal  -but also its crate.

In the post, Crenshaw claims to have shoved this dog underneath airplane seats, in violation of policies designed to prevent animal abuse, more than 500 times. 

Texas Penal Code 42.092, Titled “Cruelty to Nonlivestock Animals,” defines “Cruelty” as “any act that causes or permits unjustified or unwarranted pain or suffering to an animal.” The statute also defines “Torture,” as “any act that causes unjustifiable pain or suffering,” to an animal.

There is a very real possibility that a jury would decide that forcing the dog to squat under an airplane seat for a three or four-hour flight from Washinton’s Regan International Airport to Bush without being able to stand or turn around would be an example of cruelty or even torture under Texas law. 

Moreover, Tara Blake claimed one dog was a service animal for her husband, who was injured in combat during the Iraq War. 

In Texas, attacks on service animals constitute a separate offense. Under Federal Law (75 FR 56266), a service animal is defined as “any dog that has been specifically taught to carry out duties or complete tasks for the benefit of a person who is disabled, whether they have a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental impairment.”

A person has committed an offense if that person is found to have “carelessly, deliberately, or knowingly attacked, hurt, or murdered an assistance animal.” A jury would likely conclude that forcing a dog as big as Joey or Luna into a confined space, such as the area beneath an airplane seat, would constitute a violation of Texas Law protecting service animals from abuse since doing so would certainly cause the dog to feel severe pain.

Additionally, falsely claiming a pet is a service animal constitutes another offense under Texas Law. As of September 1, 2023, anyone found to have falsely represented a pet as a service animal without having undergone special straining can be fined up to $1000 and 30 hours of community service. House Bill 4164 defines a service animal as a “canine that is specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability.” 

In the post, Crenshaw claims that his wife and her mother took the dog onto a Southwest flight because, he says, Southwest employees are “nice people.”

Southwest Airlines has pet-travel policies that are almost identical to those of United. Southwest, like United, requires that any animal carried onto any of its flights has to remain in a crate or bag, and the pet carrier must easily fit beneath the seat on the flight. Southwest also has policies in place that are designed to comply with Texas Law and prevent animal abuse. 

In the 8-minute rant that included homophobic insults and racist insinuations, Crenshaw repeatedly accused a United Ticket Counter Agent at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport of going on a “crazed, unhinged” attack that forced Crenshaw’s wife to move to protect the couple’s, two-month-old baby. Then, according to Crenshaw, the “Unhinged United Agent” began “ripping things off” the dog carrier, and his wife was again forced to step in to stop the attack. The whole incident was captured on security cameras, which Congressman Crenshaw posted to his Twitter account. 

The videos, produced by the City of Houston’s Airport System, completely contradict Crenshaw’s accusations. 

Despite the Agent’s calm demeanor, Crenshaw’s wife is seen snatching violently at the Ticket Counter Agent, refusing to let her remove the Pet Policy Tag. A few seconds later, Tara Blake did not attack the Agent the second time she attempted to remove the bright yellow tag.

According to Crenshaw, the Agent was attempting to “Violently Assault” the dog. At the same time, earlier in the video, he claimed she was trying to photograph the dog to add Blake (Crenshaw’s wife) to a “Do Not Fly” Registry. He did not elaborate on why his wife’s behavior warranted her addition to a do not fly list. “They wanted to take my dog out of the bag, and photograph him and report my wife so they could never fly again,” he said in the video.

United Airlines Ticket Counter Agents do not have the authority to add a passenger to the National “Do Not Fly” registry. Such a move would usually be done in conjunction with security teams in a process that would involve airline management. A single Agent could only add a person to the Do Not Fly Registry with oversight. 

Crenshaw then launches a profanity-laced tirade against the Agent’s supervisor, Vice President Phillip Griffith. (At the beginning of the post, the Congressman suggests that United Airlines hires minorities as part of “DEI” or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies. Vice President Griffith is black.)

He then provides a play-by-play account of the video that is diametrically opposite to what the video actually shows. The video shows “Angela,” the ticket counter agent, calmly reaching for the bag as Crenshaw narrates that she is violently “assaulting” his dog. As his wife is shown lunging towards the Agent, Crenshaw describes her as peaceful and calm. 

After the “assault” on his dog, Tara Blake then shoves her baby carriage about 15 feet away and storms out of the frame. The Agent is seen calmly walking away to help other passengers. 

“At this point,” Crenshaw narrates, “I’m feeling pretty happy because the video shows exactly what my wife said it would show,” even though the video shows that none of his wife’s statements were accurate in any way.

Beginning at 4:45 in the video, the Agent appears to be walking from a ticket printer and approaches the bag before Mrs. Crenshaw snatches at the Agent’s hand. At 4:54, the Agent returns to the dog bag and seems to resume whatever she was doing in the first place. 

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Crenshaw then recounts the position of United Airlines’ Phillip Griffith, who informs him that his wife was “handsy” and “agitated,” right from the very start. He also indicates at several points in the audio recording that Crenshaw secretly made of his conversation that the Crenshaws are well-known to be difficult passengers. “I deal with people like you every day,” Griffith tells the Congressman. “I deal with people like your wife every single day,” he said. 

Crenshaw then tells viewers that he frequently swears at airport agents and that he thinks such behavior is expected. “We’ve all been in that situation,” he says, “You know how you’re not allowed to curse around airline agents?” he asks. “When a bad thing happens to your travel… and, ‘F-Bomb… and they’re like ‘We can’t work with you anymore! You’re out of here!” He then accuses Ticket and Gate Agents subjected to passenger abuse of having their “delicate sensibilities” offended.

For his part, Phillipe Griffith was shown defending the Agent and told Crenshaw to “shut up with that,” as the Congressman began to use profanity directed at him. Being told not to swear triggered the Congressman, who could then be heard breaking out into exaggerated, histrionic laughter in response.

Dan Crenshaw, known for his trademark eyepatch, represents North Houston in the United States Congress. A relatively new member of Congress, having been first elected in 2019, Crenshaw has come under fire from Republican voters for his efforts to distance himself from former President Donald Trump. Frequently called a “Never Trumper,” the 4.4K comments his post collected focused as much on his immigration stance and tacit support of Joe Biden as they did on criticisms of United Airlines or the Ticket Counter Agent. 

“Let’s be clear, Dan Crenshaw is a RINO and should not be in Congress representing the Republican Party,” said one response to his post. That comment garnered 2.8k loves. 

“Also, Dan… that same contempt Phillip and those United employees have for you and yours seems like the same contempt you have for Trump and his supporters…” Read another. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, the post had been viewed more than 4 million times. 

Tara Blake is an American legal expert who specializes in medical and healthcare litigation. She has a reported net worth of $700,000. According to Open Secrets.com, the Crenshaw household is worth an estimated $2.5 million.

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