Pro-Trump Gen Z influencer takes credit for helping ICE detain TikTok star Khaby Lame
Bo Loudon, a conservative Gen Z influencer who has called Donald Trump's son Barron Trump his 'best friend,' is taking credit for helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement briefly detain Italian-Senegalese social media star Khaby Lame, the world's most-followed person on TikTok.
In a statement to USA Today on Sunday, an ICE spokesperson confirmed that Lame, whose full name is Seringe Khabane Lame, was detained on Friday at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas for 'immigration violations.'
The 25-year-old, who has more than 160 million followers on TikTok, was born in Senegal but moved as a child to Italy, where he is now a citizen. According to ICE, he entered the U.S. on April 30 and 'overstayed the terms of his visa.' After a brief detention, the agency said, Lame was granted voluntary departure, which allows an individual facing removal to leave the U.S. voluntarily in a set time frame, rather than being ordered to be deported.
Lame has not addressed his detention on social media and did not respond to a request for comment from The New York Times.
After losing his factory job during the Covid pandemic, Lame began posting silent skits reacting to 'life-hack' videos on TikTok, quickly gaining a following. He has held the title of the most-followed user on the platform since June 2022, when he surpassed dancer Charli D'Amelio.
On Friday, before Lame's detention was widely reported, Loudon alleged he played a role in the influencer's interaction with immigration authorities. 'I've been working with the patriots at President Trump's DHS to make this happen,' Loudon, 18, wrote on X.
In a video posted on Monday, Loudon alleged he heard from a 'few of his friends' and 'business partners' that Lame had overstayed his visa.
'I just called some buddies in the administration, and I've never seen anything happen so quick,' Loudon alleged. 'They were like, 'We're gonna get right on this.''
Loudon wished Lame 'the best of luck' and said he hopes 'he's able to come back as a law-abiding citizen.'
Bo Loudon is the son of former Republican Missouri state Sen. John Loudon and conservative media personality Gina Loudon, who served as co-chair of Women for Trump. The 18-year-old frequently posts photos of himself with both the president and Barron Trump on his social media pages.
During Trump's presidential campaign, Loudon was said to have played a role in helping the 78-year-old court young male voters. Loudon said he helped set up Trump's interviews with Adin Ross and Joe Rogan.
'It was the honor of my life to be able to organize and attend the LEGENDARY stream between Rightful President Trump and my friend @AdinRoss,' Loudon wrote at the time. 'GEN-Z STANDS WITH TRUMP!'
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
30 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Live updates: L.A. curfew enters second night as U.S. protests spread
A curfew for part of downtown Los Angeles continued for a second night Wednesday, as protests against the Trump administration's immigration raids continue in the city, where the president has tested legal limits by mobilizing National Guard troops and Marines. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman pushed back on claims the city is facing widespread destruction, stressing that '99.99 percent' of people living in the area 'have not committed any illegal acts in connection with this protest whatsoever.' The protests have spread to several other cities, including Chicago, New York, San Antonio and Spokane, Washington, which also instituted a curfew Wednesday night.
USA Today
43 minutes ago
- USA Today
What Swift fan accounts should know about copyright after Barstool's 'Taylor Watch' canceled
What Swift fan accounts should know about copyright after Barstool's 'Taylor Watch' canceled The rumors may be terrible and cruel, but the ones about Barstool Sports' "Taylor Watch" podcast being canceled are true. The podcast with 115,000 fans on TikTok, 78,000 fans on Instagram and 16,000 subscribers on YouTube — geared toward discussing all things Taylor Swift — aired its final episode on June 4. What was supposed to have been a celebratory moment for Swift regaining control of her masters started on a melancholic note as hosts Kelly Keegs and Gia Mariano sang "Ave Maria." The two sat in their brown leather chairs to acknowledge the termination of a show they've cultivated for two-plus years. "'Taylor Watch' is canceled," Keegs said on the 150th episode, "because having a music related podcast or something that can toe the line with lawsuits in general where it comes to music rights, whatever, is just not feasible with Barstool Sports at this time." One underlying issue lies in copyrighted photos, videos and music being used on social media. Several posts potentially opened parent company Barstool Sports to lawsuits, and the podcasters had two options: to cancel "Taylor Watch" or be fired. "It was all just stupid mistakes on my part," Mariano said on the podcast through tears. "It was never intentional. We would never think that we could just get away with something." "Or even jeopardize the company," Keegs jumped in. "We love working here." Long live the Eras Tour with our enchanting book The one- to two-hour episodes crafted a corner in the Swiftie community where fans (and some haters) tuned in to hear the thoughts of Keegs and Mariano. " Gia and I went to Paris Night 2 together, and there were some people coming up to us and saying what they liked about the show," Keegs tells the USA TODAY Network of Swift's May 10, 2024, concert. "Then by the time we were in Miami — that was a totally different experience — I couldn't believe how many people were coming up to us who knew who we were." The two hosts offered unfiltered thoughts on Swift's music, business moves, concerts and news. They would post short snippets to social media. A couple included some paparazzi photos and sped-up music pulled from the internet. "It's what I looked forward to every week," Keegs says. Her favorite part was the voicemail segment when people called in to offer their thoughts. "We got a call from a mom excited about the 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version).' She gave birth to her son when the first version came out and now he's a teen. She made him listen to 'Never Grow Up.' It was a beautiful full circle moment." Copyright's gray area So where do the legal lines lie for copyright? It's a perfect question for David Herlihy, an intellectual property, new media and entertainment lawyer who also teaches at Northeastern University in Boston. Copyright is the subject of entire college courses, so keep in mind the following is heavily abbreviated. Herlihy also provides an asterisk: " None of these things are absolute, but there are basic policy contours of copyright." Let's start with images and videos that fan accounts share on social media. Herlihy says the copyright of photos of Swift taken in a public place are owned by the photographers and can be licensed to news outlets. However, the photographers can't make merch with the photos, "because that's a commercial exploitation of her likeness." What about fan accounts that repost photos and credit them, do they need permission? Some cases can be deemed fair-use, which means using copyrighted material doesn't need permission under "certain circumstances." This balances copyright holders' intellectual property rights with the public's need to access and use information. "You're using the photograph for news reporting, commentary or for conversation, and the law regards news, commentary and conversation as valuable," Herlihy says. "So depending upon the nature of the use, the rights of the copyright owner may actually yield to other socially beneficial purposes." What Taylor Swift's trademark applications say about potential business moves. However, Instagram has a clear policy that users cannot post content that violates someone else's intellectual property rights, including copyright. 'Taylor Watch' is not the first account within the past month to get flagged. In fact a few behemoth Swift fan accounts with six digits in followers were recently sent to Instagram purgatory and deactivated for similar infractions including @ and @tstourtips. Meta, Instagram's parent company, did not comment on the deactivations to the USA TODAY Network. The accounts, which are not officially affiliated with Swift, share news, theories on upcoming announcements and records broken by the superstar. They foster micro-communities of the global fandom. And they celebrate moments like Swift buying back her first six albums from Shamrock Capital. For Keegs and Mariano, "Taylor Watch" was their safe space to gab about the superstar. 'It's not like we aren't Taylor fans still,' Keegs said. She tried to find a bright side explaining, "If we want to be poetic about it, I suppose you can say our watch has ended because [Swift's] gotten all of her stuff back." Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat. Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Anatomy of a raid: How immigration agents descended on an L.A. car wash
5.38.4 Immigration Anatomy of a raid: How immigration agents descended on an L.A. car wash Security footage and cellphone video show how immigration officers swept in and detained people in the span of a few minutes. (The Washington Post) By Arelis R. Hernández , Marianne LeVine and Zoeann Murphy June 12, 2025 at 5:00 a.m. EDT 6 minutes ago 6 min LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration officers conducting workplace sweeps in Los Angeles over the past week have repeatedly targeted a quintessential business in highway-heavy Southern California: the car wash. Officers in masks and bulletproof vests have been spotted pulling up to businesses in pickup trucks, detaining workers wiping windshields and then shuttling them away — all in a matter of minutes. At least six car washes have been targeted in California's largest city, where protests over the raids and President Donald Trump's decision to call in National Guard troops and the Marines are expected to continue. Story continues below advertisement Over two consecutive days, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents descended on Westchester Hand Wash near Los Angeles International Airport. The Washington Post obtained video showing how each raid transpired. Surveillance footage from Sunday shows immigration agents using their vehicles to block an exit and then walking toward the workers. Several took off running when they realized what was happening. The agents returned again the next day. This is how the second sweep unfolded. test June 9, 2025, 12:19 p.m. On Monday, agents in two white U.S. Customs and Border Protection trucks pulled up to Westchester Hand Wash, got out of their vehicles and began approaching workers cleaning cars. CBP agents aren't typically involved in workplace raids, but the Trump administration has tapped them to help detain migrants as they try to ramp up arrests. The popular car wash, which specializes in detailing vehicles by hand, was already understaffed because agents had done a sting there a day earlier and taken several people into custody. Lexus, BMW and Volkswagen cars in various stages of being cleaned filled the lot. 'I was just checking on everybody,' the agent told a manager. When the manager noted that immigration authorities had been there a day earlier, the agent made a joke: 'Did we get car washes?' The manager told him no, adding, 'You're just taking our people who's working really hard.' test 12:20 p.m. The owner of the car wash, Mehmet Aydogan, approached the agents and tried to defend his workers. Several of them had been with the business since before he purchased it two years ago. An agent with a neck gaiter pulled over his mouth and another in plainclothes escorted a worker to their vehicle. The man, who still had a yellow cleaning cloth in his back pocket, pointed agents to a cubby under a covered waiting area where workers store their personal belongings. Aydogan said agents did not present any documents or answer his questions. One agent had a flyer in his hand with what appeared to be three headshots. They took two people into custody, the owner said. 'It happened in seconds,' Aydogan said. 'They were not interested in information or explanations. I tried to protect my guys because they are like family.' test 12:21 p.m. One worker kept wiping the top of a compact gray car, ignoring the Border Patrol agents who approached him. Aydogan walked alongside the immigration officers and tried to pressure them to leave. The workplace manager, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified for fear of reprisal, said the employee had learned from training with immigrant advocacy groups to stay silent when questioned. He said the agents had asked the workers for their names and if they were U.S. citizens. 'They are just looking around and see who they can take,' said Aydogan. 'The more, the better.' test 12:22 p.m. Just as quickly as they came, Border Patrol left. The entire operation was over in about five minutes. John Sandweg, who served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Barack Obama, said targeting car washes is 'one hundred percent' a new strategy, likely driven by the Trump administration's goal of detaining 3,000 undocumented migrants a day. That quota, he said, 'forces ICE to shift their operational tactics' from targeting specific individuals under criminal investigation to instead doing raids at 'stereotypical low-wage jobs where it's likely you're going to find people who are undocumented — that means car washes, Home Depot parking lots, anywhere you have low-skill, low-wage labor.' Sandweg said that typically when ICE goes to a business, the legal authority to enter is usually through a search warrant issued by a judge or consent from the owner, sometimes in the context of an audit. In Los Angeles, immigration officers have conducted several sweeps in parking lots that abut businesses and are considered public spaces. Aydogan said his business, despite being in a parking lot, is on private property and officers did not show a warrant. CBP did not respond to a request for comment. test 12:23 p.m. The enforcement operation left Aydogan and his remaining workers shaken and his business in disarray. He said he had employment documents for all of his workers. Agents arrested men who had been in the middle of cleaning cars and still had customers' keys in their pockets. Some spooked customers drove away. Others came by to ask what had happened and whether they could take their cars and leave. The business ended up refunding 100 customers whose vehicles it no longer had the staff to clean. The employees still there put in a double shift to help with the extra work. Relatives of the detained men came by later to drive their cars home and retrieve their belongings. Among them was Noemi Ciau, the wife of Jesus Cruz. He was picked up in the first sweep on Sunday. She said he has lived in the United States for more than two decades and is a father of four. One of their children had an honor-roll assembly after his arrest and did not want to take pictures because her father wasn't there to witness the milestone. They had planned a special outing to celebrate her middle school graduation — tasting the spiciest chicken tenders at Dave's Hot Chicken restaurant. 'My husband had no criminal background, no tickets, no parole, no nothing,' said Ciau, who declined to share any details about her husband's immigration status. 'Everybody has a right to due process.' The Department of Homeland Security has not provided a total number of arrests in the workplace sweeps or said how many of those detained have a criminal record. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, said in a statement that worksite enforcement 'protects workers' from abusive labor practices. She did not respond to a request for details regarding why Westchester Hand Wash was targeted. It's unclear what happened to the men. Many of those detained have been processed at the ICE office in downtown Los Angeles, and some have been quickly transferred out of state or deported.
