By JEFF MARTIN, Associated Press
A performer at Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance in February has been arrested after holding up a Sudanese flag with the message “Sudan and Free Gaza,” Louisiana State Police announced Thursday.
The performer, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, 41, of New Orleans surrendered to authorities after an arrest warrant was obtained, state police said. He was booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center on charges of resisting an officer and disturbing the peace by interruption of a lawful assembly.
State police say troopers began investigating shortly after the Feb. 9 game at the Caesars Superdome and found that Nantambu “deviated from his assigned role” and disrupted the halftime show by running across the field with the flag. Security and law enforcement personnel ran after him, and he refused to comply with their commands to stop, state police said in a statement Thursday.
“In coordination with the National Football League, troopers learned that Nantambu had permission to be on the field during the performance, but did not have permission to demonstrate as he did,” state police said.
Neither jail records nor online court records list a lawyer for Nantambu who could be reached for comment.
The arrest comes after New Orleans police said shortly after the football game at Caesars Superdome that the cast member would not face charges. But it was Louisiana State Police who announced the charges Thursday.
New Orleans police initially responded to the disturbance, but Louisiana State Police then took over the investigation, partly due to the performer’s access to a highly secured area, Louisiana State Police Sgt. Katharine Stegall said in an email to The Associated Press.
The NFL on Thursday said it commends the Louisiana State Police for “its diligence and professionalism.”
“We take any attempt to disrupt any part of an NFL game, including the halftime show, very seriously and are pleased this individual will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” the NFL said. “In addition to the ongoing criminal case, the NFL banned the individual from attending any NFL games or events.”
The cast member was among dozens of dancers wearing black outfits. He held the flag in the air while standing on the roof of a car that was a main feature of the hip-hop artist’s performance. He then jumped off stage and ran across the field before being tackled by several men in suits.
President Donald Trump was in the stadium for the game, but it wasn’t clear if he saw the protest.
In a separate case, Nantambu is listed as the victim of a May 17 shooting outside a celebrity boxing event in Miami.
Former NFL player Antonio Brown is facing an attempted murder charge after authorities say he grabbed a handgun from a security worker at the boxing event and fired two shots at Nantambu. Nantambu told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.
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