Marman's story instantly became a national lighting rod after airline employees ejected him from a U.S. Airways flight for wearing pants they deemed too baggy. The 20-year-old African American was later arrested after refusing to comply with crew member instructions to leave the aircraft as it was parked at the gate.
Holding a sign reading, "U.S. Airways must be sentenced repentance," Rev. Renard Allen of San Francisco's Third Baptist Church said the protestors, organized by the local chapter of the NAACP, were there to "protest injustice, inequity, decimation and racial profiling." He added, "we're saying this will not fly in the land of the free and the home of the brave."