A disabled veteran says that she was kicked off of an American Airlines aircraft for wearing a mask that was deemed offensive by a flight attendant. 

Arlinda Johns, an activist in South Florida said she was wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt was boarding a flight from Miami destined for St. Louis when she was approached by cabin crew for her face covering with “f**k 12” written on it. 

Johns said she was asked by the flight crew to remove or hide the embellishment, which is slang for police. 

According to reports, a flight attendant told Johns to cover the text on her face mask and warned her not to make it visible again during the flight, for which Johns claims she complied.

“(The attendant) came back and stood over and said, ‘I better not see that other mask,’” Johns told Florida’s Local 10 News. “I said, ‘Leave me alone, lady.’ She stood there, she said, ‘OK, I got you.’”

The flight attendant reportedly walked to the front of the plane and returned to tell Johns she must leave the aircraft.

“I am an abolitionist. I believe that we need to defund and abolish the police,” Johns said. “I think I got taken off the plane because I’m Black.”

American Airlines released the following statement to USA TODAY:

“(The flight) returned to the gate before departure after a customer refused to follow crew member instructions to remove or cover a face mask with offensive language.

“The customer was offered an alternate face covering, and although initially complying, it was reported that they later continued to display the offensive language. After arriving at the gate, the customer was asked to deplane.

“Our team has reached out to the customer to learn more about their experience and we will continue to look into this matter. We are refunding the unused portion of the ticket.”

Johns has reportedly contacted a lawyer about the incident and is looking into suing the airline.