Major League Soccer Struggles With Free Speech as Fans Protest Trump’s Immigration Policies

Americans’ discontent over the Trump administration’s immigration policies is spilling into professional sports, forcing teams to walk a fine line between allowing fan speech and enforcing league rules.

Last week, Bruce Martin, an L.A. Galaxy fan and professional photographer, was indefinitely banned from L.A. Galaxy games and Dignity Health Sports Park—the Galaxy’s stadium—for using game day credentials given to him by the team to bring in an unapproved banner during a July 4 match. The banner read “AEG Loves Immigrant Dollars But Not Immigrants.” (Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) owns the Galaxy and the stadium.) 

While some people have said Martin’s ban was because of the anti-AEG banner, Jamie Alvarez, the Galaxy’s vice president of public relations and communications, confirmed the ban was for “the misuse of a credential,” in a statement to Reason. Alvarez mentioned the team has had “multiple one-on-one conversations and small group meetings with the leadership of all the LA Galaxy Supporters Groups, including Angel City Brigade,” a Galaxy support group, and had worked closely to “have one banner and a TIFO approved by both us and the League.” 

Alvarez was also adamant that the Galaxy view the credential misuse as “a serious breach of trust.” “As part of our regular process,” she added, “an indefinite ban was issued while we reviewed the situation and his case.” While Martin reached out to inquire about the review process, he did not request a formal review of his ban. After Martin posted the letter from the team explaining his ban on his Instagram, L.A. Galaxy staff have reportedly been “harassed, intimidated, and threat

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Article from Reason.com

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