Oakland rapper Kamaiyah is in jail after she refused to remove her headgear for TSA.
TMZ reports Kamaiyah was traveling from Bradley International Airport in Connecticut when alarms went off on the rhymer. The TSA reportedly asked her to remove her headgear to be inspected but she refused. The gossip site says she "flew into a tirade" which led to her to being arrested and escorted out of the airport. (SFGate said it was a "profanity-laced tirade") Kamaiyah, who posted her $5,000 bail, is facing charges for interfering with police and second-degree breach of peace.
Per TSA's policies, "persons wearing head coverings, loose fitting or bulky garments may undergo additional security screening, which may include a pat-down. A pat-down will be conducted by a TSA officer of the same gender. If an alarm cannot be resolved through a pat-down, you may be asked to remove the head covering in a private screening area."
However, Kamaiyah's issue may be related to a larger issue of the TSA continuously patting down and searching black women's hair despite proclaiming they would stop the practice in 2015. The rapper has yet to make a public statement about the incident.
The 26-year-old rapper is best known for her 2016 song "How Does it Feel" off of her debut mixtape, A Good Night in the Ghetto. According to SFGate, she's scheduled to appear in court on June 6. Aside from her court date, Kamaiyah has a slew of concerts lined up including the Blurry Vision Festival in Oakland on May 13 and the BET Experience in Los Angeles in June.
