Schuller’s Accuser Describes Visage of ‘Rage and Hatred’

Two United Airlines flight attendants Wednesday described the Rev. Robert Schuller as tyrannical, abusive and violent on a transcontinental flight in June, while newlyweds sitting in the same cabin said it was the attendants who provoked the midair incident that resulted in assault charges against the reverend.

At a news conference here Wednesday, Khaled Elabiad said Schuller shook him violently after refusing to serve him all the grapes in the first-class section and that he has been unable to work since then. Elabiad, whose story was supported at the news conference by the senior attendant on the flight, said he will file a $5-million lawsuit against Schuller on Friday.

“It was in no way a simple assault,” said Elabiad, his voice shaking with emotion. “I was held by my shoulders. I was grabbed very forcefully. I could not get out of that hold. And I was shaken so hard that my head was going back and forth so many times, giving me whiplashes and pain. And I saw in front of me a face full of rage and hatred. I could not understand what was going on.”

In a news conference hours later at Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, passengers Kara and Dual Macintyre said via telephone from New York that they were mystified charges had been filed.

Schuller “was completely under control, rational, sane, nice,” said Dual Macintyre. Added his wife, Kara: “He wasn’t drunk, irrational, out of his mind or anything.”

Elabiad, 33, said his confrontation on June 28 with Schuller, 70, so traumatized him that he is afraid to enter an airport for fear a passenger might attack him.

Last week, Schuller avoided a trial for assault by apologizing in court and submitting to six months of supervision by a federal case officer. Schuller also paid a $1,100 fine.

He pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor, and prosecutors said they will drop the charge if Schuller keeps a clean record.

But Elabiad and his lawyers, Anthony Mallilo and Jack Grossman, said that they are not satisfied.

“We are not interested in a quick settlement,” Mallilo said. “We are interested in a fair, impartial hearing. What happened in the criminal venue, we believe, was politically motivated.”

Schuller was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

His attorney, Terry Giles, said the action against Schuller, whose “Hour of Power” broadcast draws about 30 million viewers, was motivated by greed. “This is a non-event blown out of proportion by someone who wants to make $5 million,” Giles said.

The Macintyres, who were returning from a honeymoon in New Zealand, said the flight attendants were rude and antagonistic, and that the service was the worst they had experienced on a flight. “The attendant’s [Elabiad’s] actions, to us, were so poor that that they were almost humorous--it seemed that he was being bothered to serve us,” Kara Macintyre said.

She said Schuller merely touched Elabiad’s arm in a “comforting and calming” fashion.

“Reverend Schuller’s movements, in my opinion, were in no way quick, threatening, belittling or derogatory,” she said.

But Elabiad, and Lisa Lane, 31, the senior attendant on his flight, said Schuller has been lying.

“Throughout the flight,” Lane said, “Rev. Robert Schuller was sarcastic and insensitive to both myself and my flying partner, Khaled.”

Lane said the difficulty began while the Los Angeles-to-New York flight was on the ground and Schuller demanded his garment bags be hung behind the first-class seats. Lane told him this was against FAA regulations and offered to stow his bags elsewhere.

She said Schuller grew angry and said, “You don’t want me to hang these here, because you know that I am a better person than you are.”

At that point, she said, Elabiad arrived. He told Schuller about the regulations, she said, and a ground supervisor was summoned. Schuller’s ministerial robe was hung behind the first-class area, Lane said, and the remaining garment bags were stowed overhead.

Later, when he brought the dessert cart, the minister agreed to a platter of fruit and cheese, and then rejected it, Elabiad said. Schuller jumped to his feet, the attendant said, and declared loudly:

“No. No. I don’t want cheese. I can’t see cheese. I can’t eat cheese. I am allergic to cheese. Take the cheese away from me.”

Then Schuller said he wanted all the grapes on the plane, Elabiad said.

“Fearing that he would have an allergic reaction to cheese,” Elabiad said, “I told him that all the grapes that we had on the plane were plated with cheese. And if he was allergic to cheese, it was my duty to let him know that.”

Elabiad said Schuller called him a liar.

Elabiad said he returned to the galley and an enraged Schuller followed. Lane said Schuller closed the galley curtains violently behind him. Lane said the reverend pointed at her and said, “I want fruit. All the grapes on the plane.”

Lane said Schuller pointed at Elabiad and again called him a liar.

She said Elabiad asked Schuller not to not call him a liar, and then added, “From the moment you have come on board you have been nothing but demeaning and verbally abusive both to myself and my flying partner.”

“Do you know who I am?” Lane quoted Schuller as asking.

Elabiad said he did not.

Schuller replied, “Well, I am very sorry for you,” according to Lane. “I am the powerful Rev. Robert Schuller.”

“If you are a reverend,” Lane quoted Elabiad as responding, “then you should treat me with respect as a human being and not verbally abuse me.”

At that point, Lane said, Schuller’s face grew red and his nostrils flared. She said she grew frightened and ran to get the captain.

Then, Elabiad said, Schuller grabbed him.

“I did not defend myself,” Elabiad said, adding that he did not strike Schuller “out of respect of my uniform, which I was wearing and also because he was a man of the cloth.”

Schuller has said he “aggressively” grabbed Elabiad after being provoked but did not shake him. His attorney said Elabiad showed an “attitude” during the flight.

Schuller--who is on a low-fat diet and not allergic to cheese--told the attendant he preferred not to have the cheese on his place because he might eat it, Giles said. The attendant, Giles said, told him to “take it or leave it.”

Times staff writer Nancy Cleeland contributed to this story.