A performer at Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime performance in February has been arrested after holding up a Sudanese flag with the message “Sudan and Free Gaza,” Louisiana State Police announced Thursday.
The performer, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, 41, of New Orleans surrendered to authorities after an arrest warrant was obtained, state police said. He was booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center on charges of resisting an officer and disturbing the peace by interruption of a lawful assembly.
State police say troopers began investigating shortly after the Feb. 9 game at the Caesars Superdome and found that Nantambu “deviated from his assigned role” and disrupted the halftime show by running across the field with the flag. Security and law enforcement personnel ran after him, and he refused to comply with their commands to stop, state police said in a statement Thursday.
“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,” state police said.
Neither jail records nor online court records list a lawyer for Nantambu who could be reached for comment.
The arrest comes after New Orleans police said shortly after the football game at Caesars Superdome that the cast member would not face charges. But it was Louisiana State Police who announced the charges Thursday.
New Orleans police initially responded to the disturbance, but Louisiana State Police then took over the investigation, partly due to the performer's access to a highly secured area, Louisiana State Police Sgt. Katharine Stegall said in an email to The Associated Press.
The NFL on Thursday said it commends the Louisiana State Police for “its diligence and professionalism.”
“We take any attempt to disrupt any part of an NFL game, including the halftime show, very seriously and are pleased this individual will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” the NFL said. “In addition to the ongoing criminal case, the NFL banned the individual from attending any NFL games or events.”
The cast member was among dozens of dancers wearing black outfits. He held the flag in the air while standing on the roof of a car that was a main feature of the hip-hop artist’s performance. He then jumped off stage and ran across the field before being tackled by several men in suits.
President Donald Trump was in the stadium for the game, but it wasn’t clear if he saw the protest.
In a separate case, Nantambu is listed as the victim of a May 17 shooting outside a celebrity boxing event in Miami.
Former NFL player Antonio Brown is facing an attempted murder charge after authorities say he grabbed a handgun from a security worker at the boxing event and fired two shots at Nantambu. Nantambu told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.
FILE - A flag is raised during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
