Chris Christie’s Niece Kicked Off Plane for Accusing Latino Family of ‘Smuggling Cocaine’

Shannon Epstein, the 25-year-old niece of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), was arrested in an extremely dramatic, combative event at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans on November 24 after being kicked off her plane. The Times-Picayune reports that Epstein had asked a family she perceived to be Latino on her flight if they were “smuggling cocaine.” (The family has not been identified.) When airline workers decided to remove her from the flight and the plane returned to the gate, she became “increasingly irate,” and the incident escalated at the airport.

When deputies tried to arrest Epstein at the airport, she fought back. Per the Times-Picayune:

In the scuffle, she injured six deputies, biting one of the arm and breaking the skin, and kicking another in the groin, Rivarde said. They were treated there by paramedics.

All the while, Epstein shouted that the deputies were going to lose their jobs or end up in jail, boasting that she was related to powerful people and that her uncle is a friend of former President Donald Trump, Rivarde said. Chris Christie did not return messages left Friday at two telephone numbers associated with him.

Seven deputies were needed to handcuff Epstein to a wheelchair, so that she could be moved to the airport security office, Rivarde said. She continued to shout vulgarities and try to bite deputies, he added.

The Christie family is no stranger to criminal scandals. Epstein’s uncle, who ran against Trump in the the 2016 Republican presidential primary before buddying up to him for several years, infamously shut down a New Jersey bridge at rush hour to punish a mayor who refused to endorse his re-election bid.

Epstein was booked with six counts of battery on a police officer, made her $10,750 bail, and was released from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on Thanksgiving Day. The case will likely move to federal court.