YouTube and Vine star (with 944 million Vine loops) Jasmeet Singh, better known as JusReign, was not only forced to remove his turban at a San Francisco airport yesterday but then told to go out in public without it. The incident is the latest example of xenophobia in the U.S. where people are currently supporting Donald Trump's Muslim ban. Just last month Trump mocked a man wearing a turban (which Trump referred to as "one of those hats") holding a "Stop Hate" sign at one of his rallies as Trump had security kick him out.
As Buzzfeed reports, Singh tweeted and snapchatted through the whole ordeal. According to Singh, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stopped him for an extra screening telling him he wouldn't be able to board the plane if he didn't comply.
After the complete body search Singh said he asked TSA for a mirror to tie his turban again and TSA tells him there's no mirrors in the room. An agent actually told him to walk (without his turban on through the terminal to the bathroom.
Singh told VICE about turbans’ "huge cultural significance" for Sikhs. "It represents dignity and courage," Singh said. And if you still don’t understand the importance, Singh likened being told to remove a turban to someone being told to remove their underwear.
Today he tweeted about the situation and brought up Sikh model Waris Ahluwalia who just two weeks ago couldn't board a flight after TSA refused to give him a private room to remove his turban.
Singh tweeted: "the political climate in the USA and ridiculous rhetoric that's being thrown around is definitely NOT helping these cases with brown folk."
With Trump winning in Nevada and still leading in the polls it looks like it'll only get worse from here.
