Formula 1 protesters, anti-circumcision group stage demonstrations outside of Super Bowl
Super Bowl LIV got off, for the most part, without a hitch on Sunday in Miami Gardens.
Two groups, however, gathered outside Hard Rock Stadium ahead of the game, lobbying both against a potential Formula 1 race and circumcision in the United States.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is among a group working to bring the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix to the area around Hard Rock Stadium starting in 2021. County commissioners are set to vote Tuesday on legislation that would formally approve that plan.
Local residents in Miami Gardens, however, aren’t happy about it.
The race — while it wouldn’t close any public roads — would bring loud noises and extra pollution to the surrounding neighborhoods, significantly more than what normally occurs during a sporting event or concert at the stadium.
“It’s about our health. It’s about our families,” local resident Phyllis Simpkins, who lives just blocks from the stadium, told USA Today. “That noise would be coming in our front doors, our back doors. Everywhere.”
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Barbara Jordan joined protesters on Sunday, according to USA Today, and even reportedly “got into several arguments with police officers” who were trying to curtail the protesters as fans arrived to walk into the game. Jordan described the decision to move the race to Miami Gardens as “environmental racism.”
“Simply because a billionaire owns that stadium he thinks he can do whatever he wants,” Jordan said, via USA Today. “We’re not protesting the Super Bowl. We love that. But this is wrong.”
A “clash” with the Blood Stained Men
During their protest, Jordan and the group were reportedly confronted by the Blood Stained Men, a national nonprofit lobbying for the end to circumcision, according to the Miami Herald.
Jordan, per the Miami Herald, led the confrontation against the anti-circumcision group — standing in front of their sign and accusing the group of being paid off by Ross to disrupt their protests before police intervened.
“Go tell Ross to pay you a little bit more,” Jordan yelled at a protester, who had his crotch painted red, per the Miami Herald.
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