When Dr. Jeffrey Epstein showed up at the American Airlines ticket counter at Orlando International Airport at 6 a.m. for a 6:24 a.m. flight, he got a response he did not like.

He was too late to check in, airline employees told him on Thursday.

Dr. Epstein, 59, argued with the employees and began yelling loudly. When police officers arrived, Dr. Epstein yelled at them, too, insulting them and telling them to get him a flight or arrest him, according to cellphone video of the encounter.

They arrested him. But he did not go easily, falling to the ground and pulling his hands close to his chest.

As officers struggled to put him in handcuffs, Dr. Epstein was pepper-sprayed. Dr. Epstein, who is white, repeatedly yelled out “Oh, my God” and, in one profanity-laden line, that he was being treated like a “black person,” the video shows.