The backup performer who unexpectedly waved a flag as protest in support of Sudan and Gaza during Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Orleans back in February has been arrested over four months after the incident, Louisiana State Police confirmed on Thursday.
Authorities said in a press release that they’d arrested 41-year-old New Orleans resident Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu on charges of resisting an officer and disturbing the peace by interruption of a lawful assembly. Police said Nantambu “surrendered himself through coordination with his attorney.” A rep for Nantambu could not be reached. Nantambu spoke with NBC News after the incident back in February, saying that he adorned the flag to “highlight the human suffering.”
The police said Thursday that they “confirmed he was hired as an extra performer during the halftime show. 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.”
Nantambu had unveiled the flag during the middle of the Halftime Show in New Orleans back in February, at one point standing on top of the black Buick GNX on the field while hoisting the flag up. He was apprehended by security shortly after.
Authorities said Thursday that Nantambu had “disrupted the halftime show by running across the field with the flag. Security and law enforcement personnel on site quickly recognized the unauthorized action and apprehended the performer after he refused to comply with their commands to stop.”
In a statement at the time, the NFL said Nantambu, then not identified, had been banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events, and that “the individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show. No one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent.” Roc Nation added that the protest “was neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal.”
Lamar’s performance became the most-viewed halftime show of all time, drawing an average of 133.5 million viewers.
