A New York realtor has been banned from touring to Columbia for a decade after his violent airport tirade within the South American nation was caught on video — however claims he's the sufferer, not the agitator.
Emmanuel Hernandez was ready in line at an immigration checkpoint when he eliminated his shirt and launched his bodily and verbal assault on brokers inside Rafael Núñez Worldwide Airport on July 16, Colombia's ministry of external relations alleged.
Hernandez, a New York native dwelling in Tampa, Florida, had traveled to the Columbia for his father's 84th birthday when he grew to become disruptive contained in the airport.
The shirtless traveler directed expletives at officers, tearing aside one of many safety cubicles, knocking off a number of panels and punching the plexiglass dividers, in response to video posted to social media.
“F–ok you. You assume you possibly can f–ok round with the fallacious motherf–ker,” Hernandez could be heard shouting.
Hernandez claims he grew to become unwell after touring for 2 days, staying in a single day in motels, touring to Peru for 2 hours after which touchdown on the Cartagena airport.
“I had simply returned from an extended journey from Orlando. The journey was postponed for 2 days and from at some point to the subsequent I needed to keep within the lodge,” he instructed Colombia-based outlet Impacto News.
“Upon arriving in Cartagena there was a really lengthy line, I felt unhealthy and it was highly regarded. I took off my shirt,” he defined.
Hernandez claims airport officers started recording him as a substitute of providing help, aggravating him.
“After I took off my shirt, there was an immigration officer or folks on the airport who began to file me and I instructed them to please cease, that ‘this was a part of my privateness and that they shouldn't file me,'” he told the outlet.
Hernandez stated he started laughing at one official as a result of he wasn't offering help regardless of the agent working for the Colombian authorities.
“As an alternative of serving to me and asking me how I used to be, they began recording me and that was my response as a result of it was my privateness and it broke my coronary heart,” he stated.
A number of legislation enforcement officers took down Hernandez and detained him.
Hernandez allegedly assaulted officers and broken an immigration management module throughout his public eruption, Colombia's ministry of exterior relations acknowledged.
He was charged with property harm and ultimately expelled from the nation for his outburst.
Hernandez, who identifies as Colombian having lived within the nation between the ages of 9 and 14, says it's going to damage not being allowed to return to the nation for a decade.
“Not with the ability to return to Colombia to hug your dad and mom or maybe obtain forgiveness in your aggressive conduct. What hurts me probably the most will not be seeing my dad and mom in Colombia for 10 years. That basically hurts me,” Hernandez stated.
The realtor revealed he received't be capable of journey again to Colombia for 10 years due to his July 16 arrest.
Hernandez maintained his actions contained in the airport was a pure human response and shouldn't be penalized for it.
“These items happpen they usually had been out of my management as a human being,” he stated. “We make errors, I'm very ashamed.
“I made a mistake and I paid for it with all my soul. Colombia is right here,” he added.
Hernandez apologized to the authorities and vowed to pay for the damages he triggered.
