Sheriff's Deputies Remove Man With Arab Headdress From Expo Line Train, After He Threatened To Blow It Up

Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputies removed a man who was wearing a Kafiyeh from the Westbound Metro Exposition Line train early Sunday afternoon in Santa Monica

At least one passenger heard a rumor that the man claimed to have a bomb. The Sheriff's Department would not confirm or deny this account.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department provides security throughout the MTA train system, because it moves through jurisdictions.

The keffiyeh is a traditional Middle Eastern headdress fashioned from a square scarf, usually made of cotton. It is typically worn by Arabs, as well as by some Mizrahi Jews and Kurds.

It is commonly found in arid regions as it provides protection from sunburn, dust and sand. Its distinctive standard woven checkered pattern may have originated in an ancient Mesopotamian representation of either fishing nets or ears of grain, but the true origin of the pattern remains unknown.

Toward the end of the 1980s, the keffiyeh became a fashion accessory in the United States and, during the 2000s, it became very popular among adolescents in Tokyo, where it was often worn with camouflage-style clothing.