Dana Ghazi Mustafa Charged After Air Marshal Assault

Dana Ghazi Mustafa, a North Carolina woman then aged 27, was arrested in February 2020 and charged with assaulting a federal air marshal aboard a United Airlines flight from Frankfurt to Dulles International Airport. The charge, brought under 18 U.S.C. § 111, carried a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.¹

What Happened on United Flight 933

On February 22, 2020, a smoke detector went off in a lavatory on United Airlines Flight 933. Flight attendants found Mustafa inside, told her smoking was prohibited, and sent her back to her seat. A federal air marshal on board later noticed the smell of alcohol on her. She punched her seat-back television and threw a coin at the cabin bulkhead.²

An air marshal then saw her walking toward the rear of the plane while striking a lighter. When a flight attendant tried to keep her out of the lavatory, she pushed the attendant and tried to barricade herself inside. Two marshals intervened.³ According to the criminal complaint, Mustafa pulled her arms away as marshals tried to handcuff her and repeatedly kicked one of them in the shins.⁴

When the flight landed at Dulles around 8:15 p.m., FBI agents boarded and interviewed her. In her belongings they found a half-empty one-liter bottle of Absolut vodka, a lighter, and a burned-out cigarette.⁵

The Threats She Made

Once restrained and seated beside an air marshal, Mustafa said, according to court documents: “I’m going to stab everyone on this plane. Then kill myself. I’m Palestinian! That’s how we get down.” She also told the marshal she wanted to punch him and described imagining stabbing him.¹

The Federal Charge

Mustafa was charged with assaulting a federal officer under 18 U.S.C. § 111, which criminalizes forcibly assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers engaged in their official duties. Because the alleged conduct involved physical contact, the offense carried a maximum penalty of eight years.¹⁶ She made her initial appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on February 24, 2020, did not enter a plea, and was released pending a later court date.⁵

How the Case Was Resolved

The magistrate case in the Eastern District of Virginia, docketed as 1:20-mj-00082, was terminated on June 25, 2020.⁷ The precise terms of the resolution are not fully detailed in available records, but a later federal filing points to the outcome. On May 13, 2021, a docket was opened and terminated in the Middle District of North Carolina, case number 1:21-cr-00164, classified as a “Transfer of Jurisdiction for Supervision of Releasee/Probation.” The court noted it had received certified copies of the indictment, judgment, and docket sheet from the Eastern District of Virginia.⁸

The presence of a judgment transferred from Virginia, combined with the supervision-transfer classification of the North Carolina docket, indicates the case was resolved in Virginia and that Mustafa’s probation or supervised release was moved to North Carolina, where she lived. Transferring supervision to a defendant’s home district is standard practice in the federal system when a person is sentenced in one jurisdiction and resides in another.

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Woman Arrested for Assaulting Federal Air Marshal
2
Newsweek. United Airlines Passenger Allegedly Threatens to Stab Everyone After Caught Smoking in Toilet
3
Fox 5 DC. Woman Accused of Threatening to Stab Everyone on This Plane, Assaulting Federal Air Marshal on Flight to Dulles Airport
4
Fox 5 NY. Woman Allegedly Assaulted Air Marshal, Threatened to Stab Everyone on the Plane
5
NBC Washington. Woman Threatened to Stab Passengers, Assaulted Air Marshal on Flight to Dulles
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. § 111 – Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers or Employees
7
CourtListener. United States v. Mustafa, 1:20-mj-00082
8
PACER Monitor. USA v. Mustafa, 1:21-cr-00164