A Florida man whose Nazi flag was confiscated at a city-owned arena in Orlando during a combat-sports event in August has sued the city, claiming staff violated his First Amendment rights by suppressing his display while permitting other political expression, JNS reported.
Jay Brown filed an amended complaint on Sept. 28 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He alleges that an usher at the Kia Center snatched a swastika flag from his hands during the Aug. 29 event and that staff threatened to eject him if he kept displaying it. According to the complaint, Brown was then escorted to a coat-check area, where the flag was taken and held.
The lawsuit says the usher called the flag “hateful” and told Brown he should be ashamed of it. Brown also claims venue staff allowed other attendees to wave large Black Lives Matter flags at the same event.
“The First Amendment protects nearly all speech,” Brown’s attorney, Anthony Sabatini, told JNS.
The suit accuses the city of viewpoint discrimination. It seeks compensatory and nominal damages, along with a court order barring the city from restricting political expression at its venues based on content or viewpoint.
An antisemitic night at the arena
The event, organized by Duel: Arena, featured a heavyweight kickboxing bout between Ben Azoulay, an Israeli-American Jewish fighter, and Paul Nicholas Miller, a far-right internet personality who goes by “Gypsy Crusader” and has a long record of racist and antisemitic content online. The Anti-Defamation League has described Miller as a white supremacist. Miller won the fight by split decision.
Immediately after the decision, Miller took the microphone and hurled an antisemitic slur at his opponent before the full arena, according to Orlando television station WKMG News 6. Video taken after he left the ring appeared to show him giving a Nazi salute to the crowd twice. Separate crowd footage showed a spectator unfurling a Nazi flag.
Marni Mandell, CEO of Shalom Orlando, a local Jewish nonprofit, told News 6 it was frightening that Miller would act so brazenly in such a public setting.
The display drew condemnation across the political spectrum. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) called video of the flag “utterly disgusting” and wrote on X that antisemitism has no place in Florida. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat running for Orlando mayor, said she was disgusted and called the incident a reminder of how widespread extremism has become.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said symbols of hate, including the Nazi flag, had been brought into the Kia Center but that hate would never be welcome in the city.
City says its hands are tied
In a Sept. 2 statement, Orlando Venues and the city condemned hate speech, antisemitism and racism in all forms and said the views expressed at the event belonged solely to the individuals involved. At the same time, they said that as operators of public venues, they are bound by the First Amendment and cannot deny access to an event because they disagree with its political viewpoint. The city said it would continue reviewing its event policies.
The Kia Center’s published policies bar signs larger than 11 by 17 inches, as well as signs with indecent or derogatory comments or images, political statements or commercial references. The rules also allow security staff to inspect items and to prohibit anything deemed inappropriate for crowd safety.
Kia America, which holds the arena’s naming rights, said it has no role in the venue’s operations or security but praised staff for acting promptly, adding that such behavior runs counter to the company’s values.
A representative of Island Fights, which organized many of the bouts on the card but not those involving influencers like Miller, called what happened “distasteful,” News 6 reported.
