A veteran Minneapolis sports radio broadcaster has apologized and says he is “taking a few days off” after invoking a conservative conspiracy theory that people demonstrating against the Trump administration’s deadly immigration crackdown were being paid to protest.
Paul Allen’s comments about the protesters on Friday came a little more than two weeks after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot Renee Nicole Good to death on 7 January as she drove away from an encounter with him in Minneapolis, igniting street protests.
Those remarks from Allen also came one day before border patrol personnel in the city set off another round of protests after disarming, restraining and then fatally shooting Alex Pretti – who, like Good, was a 37-year-old US citizen.
“I made a comment … about protesters … that was insensitive and poorly timed, and I’m sorry,” Allen said Monday in a pre-recorded statement aired by the KFAN sports station that has employed him since 1998. “It was a misguided attempt at humor, and while it was never made with any political intent or political affront, I absolutely and wholeheartedly want to apologize to those who genuinely were hurt or offended by it.”
He later continued: “My best was lacking Friday, and for that I am sorry.
“I am taking a few days off – wanted to express these thoughts and my sincere apology with you before I do.”
Allen’s protesters commentary on Friday, which came during a conversation on KFAN with Chad Greenway, a former Minnesota Vikings pro football team player, had subsequently drawn backlash.
Tens of thousands were marching Friday in downtown. There were business closures as well in solidarity of the protesters, who took to the streets even though that region and much of the US was preparing to endure an intensely cold winter storm over the weekend.
“In conditions like this, do paid protesters get hazard pay?” said Allen, who has done the play-by-play for radio broadcasts of Vikings games on KFAN since 2002.
Allen pressed on after Greenway ignored the comment, saying “everyone’s catching strays” or facing criticism, including other football personalities. “They’re just all over. Protesters caught one this morning.”
There were then demands from some quarters for Allen to resign. His apologetic statement aired Monday morning during a commercial break on a KFAN show he hosts.
The show – 9 to Noon – “doesn’t formulate political opinions”, he said. Instead, he said, its purpose is to afford the audience “a place where we chat about sports – [to] offer an escape from the heavy stuff and give listeners the distraction they need from everything else going on”.
“We serve you – not the other way around,” he added. “We’re very fortunate, and thank you for counting on us as long as you have. It means more than you’ll ever know.”
KFAN program director Chad Abbott did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking more details about the nature of Allen’s time off, including whether or not it was voluntarily taken. The Vikings also did not reply when asked for comment.
Donald Trump’s allies on the US political right have frequently sought to dismiss large protests against his two presidencies with allegations that they are the work of compensated agitators rather than genuine expressions of discontent with his administration.
Nonetheless, on Monday, just two days after Pretti’s killing, the Trump administration reportedly removed border patrol official Gregory Bovino from his role as the agency’s “commander at large” position.
Allen’s paid protesters barb Friday arrived nearly 16 years to the day from what some consider to be his most famous play call – when the Vikings’ quarterback at the time, Brett Favre, threw a late-game interception that essentially doomed his team to defeat against the New Orleans Saints with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me – I can’t believe what I just saw,” Allen said in the moments after Favre’s ill-advised pass attempt.
Bringing the National Football League’s then-lowly Lions into the rant, Allen went on to shout: “Why do you even ponder passing? I mean you can take a knee and try a … field goal!
“This is not Detroit, man! This is the Super Bowl!”
