Two American women found themselves in hot water at Heathrow Airport when a skirmish broke out over a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat.
The fracas occurred at Terminal 5 as passengers prepared to board a British Airways flight to Austin, Texas. It began when one woman, in her 40s, wearing the iconic red MAGA hat, was confronted by another woman, in her 60s, who asked her to take it off.
What started as a war of words quickly escalated into a physical altercation, leading to punches being thrown, right in front of fellow travelers waiting to board. Airport insiders mentioned that with the upcoming U.S. Presidential election raising tensions, the airline crew was particularly concerned about maintaining order at 30,000 feet.
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Once aboard the plane, the situation didn’t improve, prompting the flight’s captain to call for police assistance. Authorities arrived, escorted both women off the plane, and the flight, BA191, which was scheduled to leave at 12:10 p.m., ended up being delayed for two hours, finally taking off at 2:11 p.m.
“We apologized to our customers for the delay and got them on their way as quickly as possible,” stated a Heathrow representative.
The police reported that they were alerted around 12:45 p.m. on October 28 about the incident involving the two women in Terminal 5, with both making statements regarding the altercation. Investigations are still ongoing.
The MAGA hat, originally popularized during Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, has become a polarizing symbol, representing a range of political views—from support for conservative policies to a contentious emblem of division.
For some, donning the MAGA hat is a badge of pride, while for others, it embodies controversy and political discord.