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\nA Minnesota sports broadcaster is under scrutiny for comments he made last week regarding ICE protestorsPaul Allen, the voice of the Minnesota Vikings, incorrectly claimed the protestors were “paid” and wondered on air if they were getting “hazard pay” to be out in inclement winter weatherOne day later, the radio host used another ill-timed phrase to describe a fellow broadcaster; Allen has apologized for both instances<\/p>\n
A Minnesota sports radio personality is apologizing after he called into question the intentions of ICE protestors in Minneapolis.\n<\/p>\n
Paul Allen, the voice of the Minnesota Vikings football team, issued a statement<\/a> on Monday, Jan. 26 following his on-air comments Friday in which he discussed the inclement weather set to hit the area, and wondered how it would affect the city\u2019s ongoing ICE protests.\n<\/p>\n “I made a comment on Friday about protesters and the weather that was insensitive and poorly timed, and I’m sorry,” Allen, 60, said in a prepared statement. “It was a misguided attempt at humor and while it was never meant with any ill intent or political affront, I absolutely and whole-heartedly want to apologize to those who genuinely were hurt or offended by it.”\n<\/p>\n Allen added, \u201cI’m taking a few days off.”\n<\/p>\n Last week, the talk show host was discussing the upcoming winter storm with former Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway and Vikings beat reporter Alec Lewis when he made what he now calls a \u201ccheap one-liner.\u201d\n<\/p>\n A makeshift memorial in the area where Alex Pretti was shot dead a day earlier by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25, 2026.<\/p>\n Octavio JONES \/ AFP via Getty<\/p>\n “In conditions like this, do paid protesters get hazard pay?\u201d Allen ventured. \u201cThose are the things that I’ve been thinking about this morning.”\n<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, probably not going to touch that one,\u201d Greenway responded, as Allen then segued to NFL coaches who were fired this season and who have also \u201ccaught strays.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Yet on Saturday, Allen jumped into the fray again, when he observed in a since-deleted post on X that a fellow broadcaster was doing \u201cgood work\u201d and \u201cfiring bullets.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The comment came on the same day that 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed by a federal immigration agent<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n