Trying to cover that she took her seat and that this may have happened before.
Via Washington Examiner:
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said she believes the accusations that United Airlines gave her another passenger’s first-class seat were driven by racial discrimination.
The congresswoman released a statement on Twitter Tuesday after Jean-Marie Simon, 63, accused United of giving her pre-booked seat to Jackson Lee on a flight from Houston to Washington earlier this month.
“Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman,” Jackson Lee said in her statement. “Seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice.”
Jackson Lee said she was disappointed that she had to respond to the incident at all, but she believes “transparency” is important. The congresswoman said she arrived at the airport and boarded her flight and said she asked for “nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary and received nothing.”