UNM Football Player Was Traveling Back To School Following The Funeral Of A Friend

The sartorial choices of a University of New Mexico Football Player getting on a US Airways flight in San Francisco not only got the 20-year-old African American kicked off the plane ... they landed him in jail.

The pants Deshon Marman was wearing for a trip back to Albuquerque after attending the funeral of a high-school friend in San Francisco were described by the aircrew as "below his buttocks, but above his knees," and his boxers were on display for all to see. According to an Associated Press report in the San Francisco Chronicle, an airline employee asked him to pull up his pants, but after some discussion about the issue, Marman was asked to leave the plane and the police were called.

The chief of police said it took about "15 to 20 minutes" to get Marman off the plane. NBC affiliate KNTV reports that Marman told his mother that he eventually did pull up his pants after he got to his seat, but by then it was too late.

Marman was charged with trespassing, battery, and resisting arrest. The was taken to the San Mateo County jail in Redwood City.

His mother is calling for an apology, and says the record should be expunged. She says her son was profiled because he is a "big, tall, light-skinned black boy with dreadlocks" who got on the plane wearing baggy pants.

In a statement, US Airways said "(t)he passenger refused to comply with instructions, so the captain exercised his right to make a citizen's arrest after passenger refused to deplane." US Airways says its dress code for travelers is simply attire that is appropriate and unoffensive to other passengers.

FMI: www.usairways.com