A man interrupted Kendrick Lamar’s live performance on Sunday during the Super Bowl halftime show, waving a Palestinian and Sudanese flag with the words “Gaza” and “Sudan” written on them.
He was later identified as one of the show’s performers.
Footage of the incident showed the man holding up the flag while standing on the back of a black Grand National car that was used as a prop for Lamar’s performance.
The man later jumped into the field, raising his one-piece flag, and ran through other dancers until he was caught by security guards.
The National Football League (NFL) identified the protester “as part of the 400-member field cast” of Lamar’s performance crew. He was dressed in black like other dancers on stage.
“We commend security for quickly detaining the individual who displayed the flag. The individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show. No one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent,” the NFL said in a statement.
“The act by the individual was neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal,” a representative of Roc Nation, the producer of the show, was quoted as saying by NBC Los Angeles.
“The individual will [be] banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events,” said NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy, according to AP.
The New Orleans Police Department released a statement that read, “law enforcement is working to determine applicable charges in this incident.”
The incident came on the backdrop of a Gaza truce for the swapping of Israeli hostages held captive in the Strip for Palestinians terrorists detained in Israel after a prolonged 16-month war.
Sudan has been engaged in a bloody civil war between government forces and a paramilitary group and its allies, known as the Janjaweed coalition, since April, 2023. The number of casualties is estimated in the hundreds of thousands, with more than 8.8 million internally displaced and another 3.4 million who have fled the country.
