Super Bowl halftime performer charged for running on field with 'Sudan and Free Gaza' flag
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Super Bowl halftime show performer was charged Thursday with two misdemeanors, about 4 1/2 months after he ran across the field at the Superdome waving a flag that included the words 'Sudan and Free Gaza,' Louisiana State Police said.
Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, 41, turned himself in to authorities to face of charges resisting a police officer and disturbing the peace by interrupting a lawful assembly, police said. He surrendered in coordination with his attorney and was booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center.
Nantambu revealed the flag and ran on the field during rapper Kendrick Lamar's halftime performance on Feb. 9. He was detained on the field after his demonstration but not charged. The NFL said at the time he would be banned for life from league stadiums and events.
According to a statement from police, Nantambu had been hired as an extra performer and 'had permission to be on the field during the performance, but did not have permission to demonstrate as he did.'
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy thanked investigators for their work.
'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,' McCarthy said in a statement.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/nfl
recommended
in this topic
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
32 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Kara Lawson has always been a basketball trailblazer and has a legit chance to lead USA squad in LA
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Kara Lawson has always been a basketball trailblazer and now the Duke women's coach has a legit chance to lead USA to another gold medal. She has already done it once. Lawson guided the Americans to a 3-on-3 Olympic gold medal and could have the chance to lead the USA's 5-on-5 squad at the Los Angeles Games in three years. First up is coaching the U.S. AmeriCup team that begins play this weekend in Chile. Coaching is something she wanted to do since she was a young girl growing up in Virginia. She just didn't know it would be for her country. 'I played for a long time, and, so I got into coaching a little bit later just because I had a long playing career, which is as a good excuse as any to get into coaching later,' Lawson quipped during an interview with The Associated Press. 'So I was always drawn to it. I just didn't know what my entry point was.' She just thought the entry point might be at the high school level as the WNBA didn't exist and college wasn't something she strived to do. Fast forward 37 years and she's in charge of the group of college players heading to South America. 'I'm fortunate enough to be assigned something as important as America's head coach, my goal is to do the best job possible,' Lawson said during a break as she prepared her team for the World Cup qualifying tournament. The 44-year-old Lawson could become the second African American to lead the USA women's Olympic basketball team. Dawn Staley was the women's head coach for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Lawson was a point guard at Tennessee and credits her time learning under iconic Lady Vols Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt as a big reason for her recent success roaming the sidelines. 'If you wanna learn how to coach, why not go to the best coach,' Lawson said. Lawson has had success already with USA Basketball, leading the 3-on-3 team to a gold medal at the Tokyo Games. She didn't want to look at this opportunity as a tryout to be the 2028 Olympic coach or even next year's World Cup where she is on the short list to be the next head coach. That decision will be made by Sue Bird, who took over as the new national team managing director earlier this year. 'In my experience in life, if you just keep that mindset of being in the moment, more opportunities tend to happen for you,' said Lawson, who helped the USA win gold in 2008 at the Bejing Games, where she and Bird were teammates. 'And if you're so worried about where you fit and who goes where, and am I next in line? I just never found that to to be productive and drives you crazy and it's a waste of energy. "So I try to just lock in on like, 'what do I need to do at this job to be really good?' ' Lawson's path to coaching wasn't the one many have taken. She went from playing 13 years in the WNBA to becoming a broadcaster. From there, she spent some time with the Boston Celtics as an assistant before getting the Duke job in 2020. She led Duke to its first ACC Tournament championship under her coaching this past March and the Blue Devils made a run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The team has advanced further in the NCAAs each of the past three seasons. Coaching in the AmeriCup is a full circle moment for Lawson. She played in the AmeriCup in 2007, which was also in Chile, and helped the U.S. win it and qualify for the Beijing Olympics the next year. Now she'll try and lead the team to another victory and the automatic berth to the World Cup next year in Germany. 'I think the mentality for every team is to win,' Lawson said. 'Our group understands that we're on the lower end of the experience totem pole entering this competition and that we're going to face some very good teams. So the race is on for us to gain continuity, pick up our playbook as quickly as we can and get on the same page.' She knows the pressure that comes with coaching a USA team. Anything less than a gold medal is considered a failure. Lawson doesn't let the lofty expectations create additional pressure on her. DeLisha Milton-Jones was a teammate of Lawson's on the 2007 AmeriCup team and now is coaching with her. She's been impressed with what she's seen so far from Lawson as a coach. 'She has a knack for the game,' Milton-Jones said. 'Kara is well versed when it comes to the game. Started off at an early age going to games with her father. Going to college and being coached by one of the greatest ever to coach. Having experiences from NBA, WNBA, international side of things.' In the AmeriCup, Lawson will be coaching some of the most talented players in women's college basketball, including Flau'Jae Johnson (LSU), Olivia Miles (TCU), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Madison Booker (Texas), Joyce Edwards (South Carolina) and Raegan Beers (Oklahoma). Lawson has made an impression. 'The intensity she brings every day, you feel it like that's a pro right there,' Johnson said. 'Just learning from her I learned so much in these (few) days, it's been amazing.' ___ The Associated Press' women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
San Francisco Chronicle
32 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Van Nistelrooy out as coach of relegated Leicester
LONDON (AP) — Ruud van Nistelrooy has agreed to terminate his contract as coach of Leicester, the English club said Friday. The former Netherlands striker took over Leicester in November last year on a contract through June 2027, but he couldn't prevent relegation as the team finished the Premier League in 18th place. The club said it is looking for his replacement. It thanked Van Nistelrooy for his 'dedication and hard work,' while the former Manchester United star wished the team well for the future. The 48-year-old Van Nistelrooy previously coached Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and acted as an interim coach for United. Leicester faces the possibility of a points reduction in the Championship next season for a possible breach of financial rules.
Fox Sports
33 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Johni Broome was a college force at Auburn. He'll start his NBA journey as a 2nd-round draft pick
Associated Press Johni Broome was a college basketball headliner at Auburn, the Associated Press first-team All-American an undeniable force powering the Tigers to the Final Four. His NBA journey is coming with less fanfare. The fifth-year big man went to the Philadelphia 76ers with the No. 35 pick in Thursday's second round of the draft. If offered an example of how elite college production doesn't always equate to high-end NBA potential or draft status, particularly when it comes to an older player deemed more of a finished product compared to the youngster with rising upside. Still, the player ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas described simply as a winner is tough, tested and eager to start his pro pursuit all the same. 'I think what he said was right,' Broome said of Bilas during Thursday's ESPN broadcast. 'I'm a winner. I get things done, offensively and defensively, so the Sixers got a good one.' The 6-foot-9, 249-pound Broome — who started his career as an unheralded recruit for two years at Morehead State — averaged 18.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks last year for Auburn, which started the year at No. 11 in the AP Top 25 poll but immediately climbed to a top-5 status it wouldn't yield for the rest of the year behind Broome's brilliance. That included eight straight weeks ranked at No. 1 from mid-January to early March. Broome stuffed box scores so thoroughly that he was the player of the year in a rugged Southeastern Conference, which was hands down the nation's top conference and produced a record 14 bids to the NCAA Tournament. And he finished as runner-up for AP national player of the year to Duke freshman and eventual No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg in what was a true two-man spotlight this season, with Broome collecting a third of the vote as the only other player named on a ballot. He pushed the Tigers program to only its second trip to college basketball's biggest stage, grinding through an elbow injury suffered during the Elite Eight win against Michigan State and then being hampered by it during the loss to eventual champion Florida in the national semifinals a week later. That all seemingly had him positioned to be a first-round prospect who led Auburn to 59 wins in the past two years alone. NBA evaluations, however, are different. Broome lacks elite athleticism. His testing and measurements at the combine didn't help his first-round chances; he had a 28-inch max vertical leap, tied for second worst at the combine, while only six players posted a lower standing vertical leap (24.0). He also finished tied for fourth-worst in the shuttle run (3.23 seconds) designed to test agility. Numbers aren't everything, of course. Maryland big man Derik Queen tied Broome for the second-worst max vertical and still went on to go late in the lottery (No. 13). But Queen is the still-developing prospect growing into his upside at 20 years old and with just 36 games of college experience, compared to Broome being the as-is prospect who turns 23 on July 19 after playing 168 college games. When it comes to his game, he plays more below the rim and lacks the defense-stretching range essential in today's game built around floor-spacing. His jumper is rated as 'below average" in Synergy's analytics rankings, with him making 27.1% to rank in the 25th percentile — with most of those attempts coming in catch-and-shoot situations. That underlying data aligns with his outside-shooting statistics, where Broome made just 31.4% of his 3-point attempts (53 of 169) over the last two seasons and had at least two made 3s in just 15 of 71 games. He was at his best in post-ups, as a cutter, working as the roll man in pick-and-rolls and attacking the offensive glass, ranking 'good' to 'very good' in all of those categories in Synergy. He also ranked as 'very good' in finishing layups and dunks at the rim, converting 65.9% of those attempts to rank in the 81st percentile. Metrics aside, there's a place in the NBA for guys who can rebound and defend with toughness. He's already proven he can, along with putting in the work going back to being a three-star signee with Morehead State. 'He may not be an above-the-rim big guy, but he carves out space and he gets things done,' Bilas said during the broadcast. 'A really productive player that has been overlooked before and has come through.' ___ AP Sports Writer Steve Reed contributed to this report. ___ AP NBA: recommended
