Nazi flag, salutes, crowd fights at Kia Center event in Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Some community leaders say a raucous event Saturday night at Orlando’s Kia Center signals the need for change in the way booking policies, contracts, and security are arranged for the city’s public entertainment and sports venues.
Prominently featured on various social media platforms are videos and images of Nazi and Confederate flags, Nazi salutes, antisemitic insults, and fights that resulted in people being escorted out.
The event was called “Duel: Arena 1.” Sitting in one of the skyboxes was familiar local sports figure and 2000 Arena Bowl Champion Ernest Allen, a retired player for the arena league’s Orlando Predators.
Allen shot some video and pictures with his friends at what he thought was going to be a regular mixed martial arts event.
He couldn’t believe what unfolded before him, saying bluntly, “I was and everybody was just in shock!”
He says as soon as fighter Ben “King” Azoulay came out with the Israeli flag while heading to the ring, someone in the crowd suddenly unfurled a Nazi flag. Fans in that section then saluted and appeared to support Azoulay’s opponent, that’s when the Nazi flag appeared, with some fans supporting Azoulay’s opponent with the “SS” tattoo, Paul Miller, also known as “Gypsy Crusader.”
Allen says half a dozen fights broke out, adding, “We were thoroughly disappointed, and I did not expect it to get to that level. And then one guy had a T-shirt on with a logo, it was like a red line and then in between, you know, it said (expletive) Israel.”
WESH 2 News talked with the new CEO of Shalom Orlando. Marni Mandell said she was horrified when she saw, on social media, the spectacle unfolding at the Kia Center Saturday night, adding, “I was completely disgusted, and nauseated.”
She said the message from Orlando’s Jewish community is one that rejects the hate, discrimination, and violence fostered by the event, and she encouraged the city to re-examine its agreements to hold events in venues paid for with public money.
“What I would really like to do is to focus on the core issues that, as a community and as a society, we cannot let antisemitism fester, let alone be amplified in the way that it was,” Mandell said.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer posted on socials, “A symbol of hate was brought to our city this weekend. But hate, fear and division will never be welcome here.”
That said, city management told WESH 2 News, “As operators of public venues, the city is bound by the First Amendment. We cannot deny access because we disagree with the political ideology, opinion or perspective.”
Pushing back on the city’s response is local lawmaker and mayoral candidate Anna Eskamani, who said venue contracts may need to be restructured to place more of the responsibility for crowd behavior on those leasing event spaces.
She added, “We have to combat extremism proactively in our society while also having rules in place to prevent these types of images from getting the platforms they are getting.”
And this from Kia USA spokesperson, James Bell, “We appreciate the prompt action taken by venue personnel to address the situation. Such behaviors are in stark contrast to the values of respect and dignity that we, and our employees, fully support and promote.”
WESH 2 News reached out to the promoters of the event, and to both fighters, but we received no responses. We also reached out to Orlando police to get more information on the security arrangements at the arena Saturday, but the office of Chief Eric Smith did not respond.
Miller has a significant criminal past. On Sept. 28, 2021, a South Florida federal district judge sentenced Paul Nicholas Miller, 33, of Fort Lauderdale, to 41 months’ imprisonment followed by three years’ supervised release for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon in 2018, possessing ammunition as a convicted felon in 2021, and possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle in 2021.
Miller, who has spoken openly about his prejudices — and has called himself a racist while dressing up like the Joker from “Batman” comics and movies — had previously been convicted of three separate felony offenses in New Jersey.