A flight attendant reportedly kicked passenger Ryan Salo off a JetBlue flight on Sunday night from Fort Lauderdale to Cleveland.
“As my political free speech allows me to do, I wear a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ mas, and I wear it any time I’m required to because I am a law-abiding citizen,” Salo told the Daily Caller in an exclusive interview. “I wore the mask on my flight from Cleveland to Fort Lauderdale without any issues.”
According to Salo’s interview, one of the flight attendants on his first flight even made a joke about the mask in reference to an Allegiant flight. In February, a man was kicked off an Allegiant Airlines flight for wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” mask, according to The New York Post.
On the return flight from Fort Lauderdale, Salo wore the same mask again. “I got some dirty looks, but most people were joking with me and high-fiving me. Just as the plane was ready to take off, and I was wearing my mask exactly as legally required, above my nose, a flight attendant approached and handed me a paper mask,” Salo continued. “When I asked why, he told me that the mask was offensive.”
Salo did not want to change his mask, telling the Daily Caller that he checked every Federal, state, and JetBlue’s official guidelines on freedom of speech and masks, and felt he was not in violation of any. He asked to speak to the flight attendant’s manager, who told Salo that flight attendants have the right to kick people off flights for whatever they feel like.
“At this point, people were recording the situation on their phones,” Salo said, “So I returned to my seat and agreed to change my mask to the paper one the attendant requested. The next thing I knew, the manager was telling me to get off the plane because the flight attendant still didn’t want me on there.”
“This was a 9:50 PM flight on a Sunday and I had work Monday morning. I got off the plane, but the staff wouldn’t book me on another flight or cover the cost of a hotel, so I took a United flight back to Cleveland the next day.”
A man was reportedly kicked off a Jetblue flight for wearing a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ mask. He changed his mask after they asked him to then still kicked him off. @JetBlue pic.twitter.com/uhxt0XG59S
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) March 8, 2022
A video of the incident was shared to Twitter by LibsOfTikTok, and has amassed almost half a million views. (RELATED: Pilot Removed From Plane After Blowing 4 Times Legal Limit On Breathalyzer)
Salo has since set up a fundraiser account to support the legal action he intends to take against the airline and the flight attendant. “I have retained an attorney and he recommended starting this fundraiser because he said it will be expensive to fight an Airline.”
JetBlue has previously kicked passengers off flights for refusing to wear masks, such as one couple flying from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego, according to NBC San Diego.
“Our crewmembers are committed to ensuring our customers are safe and comfortable and often must make proactive decisions to avoid issues once airborne. The customer in this incident was ultimately asked to deplane not because of his face mask, but his behavior toward our crewmembers. We are currently investigating the incident,” JetBlue said in a statement to the Daily Caller.