Shocking: Woman lit Cigarette On American Airlines plane (Photo)

A woman who was arrested on an American Airlines flight after lighting a cigarette, blaming somebody else then ranting about Obama can be revealed as a Penn State professor of sociology.

Dr Karen Halnon, 52, who wrote her PhD thesis on hysterical women, was arrested on board the plane for disorderly conduct as it sat on the tarmac at Miami International Airport on Saturday.
She was caught on camera lighting up shortly after the flight had landed - but stubbed it out and thrust the butt into a seat pocket when flight attendants came over.



She then pointed at the man in a seat next to her when challenged over her behavior - before launching into a pro-communist rant attacking the United States for applying economic sanctions on Venezuela.

According to NBC, police were called aboard the flight, which had come from Nicaragua, and tried to calm her down, but were met with the response: 'F*** you. This is not a democracy'.

She was arrested for disorderly conduct and jailed at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
A Penn State spokesman confirmed to DailyMail.com that Halnon is indeed a member of their staff, but declined to provide further comment.

She teaches sociology at the school's Abington campus near Philadelphia, and has the rank of associate professor.

According to her faculty page she is an expert on capitalism, Latin America and mad women.

DailyMail