NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 09: Protesters hold a flag during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
During Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Super Bowl Halftime Show at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans this past February, one of the dancers onstage pulled out a flag emblazoned with the words “SUDAN” and “GAZA,” a statement of solidarity with oppressed people groups and a protest against genocidal war efforts in those regions. He was chased off the stage and ran around the field displaying the flag before being tackled by security. The then-unidentified performer was “banned for life” by the NFL, and at the time, local authorities were trying to figure out if they could charge the guy with a crime for exercising his First Amendment rights. It seems they finally decided to go for it.
