JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – TIAA Bank Field was the site of another protest statement Sunday, this one before the Jaguars game. A plane with a banner showing a Confederate flag was flown over the stadium, with the words “put monuments back.”
It’s not the first time a stadium event has been used to stage a protest and it may not be the last. With a captive audience of thousands, it’s a place to get a message across.
“The protest itself, you know, that just takes away from the enjoyment of being, you know, rooting for your home team and trying to enjoy a day out with your family,” Dwight Jones said.
RELATED: Jacksonville City Council responds to the “put monuments back” banner over TIAA Bank Field
The banner incident wasn’t the only recent protest we’ve seen there. On October 29, a message supporting Kanye West’s views on Judaism was flashed outside the stadium on one of the scoreboards after the Florida-Georgia game.
And, just before this year’s Gator Bowl, a flag with the message “F*#@ Biden” was flying across from the stadium.
For City Councilman Matt Carlucci, the idea that the stadium can be used like this is disturbing.
“The place that I believe is a great unifier for the city, which is the stadium where we all pull together for our team, in our house, is being used as a place to try and divide us,” Carlucci said. “And I just think it’s very poor taste, and bad manners, rude.”
There’s nothing illegal about the protests. Although police and the State Attorney’s Office were investigating the support for Kane West message.
“It’s a discouraging trend to be certain,” City Councilman Michael Boylan said. “I don’t think we need to have that kind of stuff. It’s a venue for people to escape in many respects and pulling politics and that kind of thing into that venue is, you know, that doesn’t serve us well.”
News4JAX has reached out to the Jaguars organization and asked if they had any concerns about Sunday’s flyover. They said they have no response to it, but after the Kanye West message, Jaguars owner Shad Khan said, “I know this is not representative of our community, but it happened and it’s outrageous.”