Former New York Senator Al D’Amato was kicked off a JetBlue flight last week after allegedly criticizing the captain and trying to rally passengers against the flight crew.

The incident occurred once passengers boarded the New York-bound flight in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (FLL), on Monday, Jan. 9. The scheduled departure time was 1:42 p.m., however six delays pushed the time back by more than six hours.

“The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly,” said Morgan Johnston, spokesperson, JetBlue. “If a customer is causing a conflict on the aircraft, it is standard procedure to ask the customer to deplane, especially if the crew feels the situation runs a risk of escalation in-flight.”

Once passengers boarded the plane, the pilot informed them 10 people needed to move from the front to the back of the plane due to weight distribution. Passengers refused and D’Amato became frustrated, confronting passengers and telling the captain to select people at random.

He was later escorted off the plane by Broward County Sheriff’s officers and attempted to rally passengers against the crew’s decision, encouraging them to walk out with him.

Passengers on the delayed flight received a $200 voucher for future JetBlue flights. The airline apologized to D’Amato for overreacting and the former senator apologized for speaking his mind when he clearly had little patience.