A traveler has accused the TSA of discrimination after claiming he was detained at the airport because of his stutter.
Marc Winski is an actor, singer and public speaker from New York City who suffers from a speech impediment.
He has claimed he was pulled over by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and taken for an additional check after they said he sounded “nervous” with his speech impediment.
Marc, who often campaigns for “stutter awareness” on social media – where he has over 382,000 followers – opened up about his experience in a TikTok video last week.
A traveler has accused the TSA of discrimination after claiming he was arrested at the airport because of his stutter
Marc Winski, who has a speech impediment, claimed he was pulled over by TSA and taken for an extra tap after they said he sounded “nervous”.
“I was arrested at the airport for stuttering,” he wrote in the video.
“I walked through the airport as usual, I went through TSA. A gate staff said, “Where are you going?” he recalled in the clip.
“I said, ‘I’m going to Florida.’ He said, ‘Are you sure? I said, “No, I just stutter sometimes.”
‘He said, ‘I need to walk you this way for an extra scan.’ Is that discrimination? I’m not sure, but it didn’t make my day. Sometimes it’s just another day in life.”
“The things we deal with…” he captioned it along with the hashtags “#StoryTime, #Stuttering, #Disability, #Stutter, #Airport and #TSA.”
Many viewers were outraged by the actions of the TSA employee and shared their dismay in the comments.
“It’s discrimination,” one person wrote. Another agreed: “Absolutely. I have faced prejudice all my life and let it rule my life because of my language. Keep spreading awareness.’
The TikToker explained that he was on his way to Florida when he was suddenly questioned by a TSA agent who asked him where he was going
After telling the unnamed airport worker he was on his way to Florida, Marc said the agent told him he was “nervous” and needed to come in for further verification
Others who suffer from stuttering also spoke out, with someone else adding, “This is [by far] one of my biggest fears. That’s why I let my wife speak for me at airports and border crossings.”
“As someone who stutters, I would probably cry,” said another user. ‘I am sorry. That shouldn’t have happened to you.”
“There’s a big difference between someone who stammers with nervousness and someone who stutters,” says a fifth comment. “You were ignorant and I’m sorry you looked into it.”
“I’m so sorry this happened to you. That was definitely not right,” added another supporter.
In 2016, a woman named Kylah Simmons claimed she was discriminated against by the TSA because of her stutter.
She claimed she was detained and interrogated for over an hour after she stuttered when asked by a customs officer where she was flying to, causing her to miss her connecting flight.
“I felt inferior, intimidated and bullied,” she told The Mighty at the time.
Many people were outraged by the TSA employee’s actions and took to the comments section to share their dismay
Kylah, of Washington, DC, said she was never told why she was incarcerated, but said she was asked about her stutter — and even accused of lying about it during the hour-long questioning.
“What upset me the most was that the [customs agent] addressed my stutter as a “problem,” she wrote in an open letter to US Customs and Border Protection posted on her Facebook page.
“I looked him in the eye and explained that my disability is not a problem, it’s just a personal challenge that makes it difficult for me to communicate.
“I was constantly told that I was lying and that I was being dishonest. All my life I have been bullied and silenced because of my stutter. I felt silenced today.’
“I want people who stutter to know that they have a voice and if they feel the need to speak up, they have a right to do so,” she added to The Mighty.
“People who stutter can no longer be silenced. We have something to say, despite the challenges we may face.’
Back in 2016, a woman named Kylah Simmons (pictured) claimed she was discriminated against by the TSA because of her stutter
She said she was detained and interrogated for over an hour after she stuttered when asked by a customs agent where she was flying to
Kylah, from Washington, DC, said she feels “inferior, intimidated and bullied” and was even accused of lying about her stutter during the hour-long questioning
According to a 2013 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report detailed by The Washington Post, the Behavior Detection and Analysis (BDA) process used by the TSA is not backed by science.
GAO concluded at the time that there was “no evidence” that “it works.”
“The GAO report recommends that Congress stop funding the program, which has cost more than $878 million since its inception in 2007,” the Post reported at the time.
“Critics have suggested that the stress and exhaustion that often accompanies air travel is all too easily misinterpreted as suspicious behavior.”
However, the TSA defended its tactics in a response to the report.
“Behaviour detection is critical to TSA’s multi-layered approach to deter, detect and disrupt individuals who pose a threat to aviation,” it said in a statement.
“Looking for suspicious behavior is a common sense approach used by law enforcement and security personnel across the country and around the world.”
has reached out to the TSA for comment.