Turns out those six weren’t just acting a little suspicious. They could hardly have been more suspicious if they had actually wanted to hijack the airplane.
Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks and also found in probes of U.S. security since the attacks — two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin.
My own speculation is that they had no intention of actually hijacking the plane, but that they deliberately provoked suspicion for publicity.
If that’s the case, it may (thankfully) backfire. As has been pointed out before, if Islamists boycott enough airlines we can just do away with the TSA altogether.