Kia Center Addresses Nazi Incident At Kickboxing Event: “We Cannot Deny Access Because We Disagree”

On Saturday night, the Kia Center, Orlando's largest indoor arena, turned into the site of what appeared to be an impromptu Nazi rally. The venue hosted a kickboxing card from the MMA promoter Duel: Arena, and one of the matches was a fight between Paul Miller, a far-right white supremacist influencer who spent time in federal prison on gun charges, and Ben Azoulay, a Jewish Israeli fighter. During the event, Miller supporters held up a Nazi flag, threw Nazi salutes, got into brawls, and screamed in the face of a female security guard after she confiscated the flag.

As MediaIte reports, footage of Nazi activity in the crowd quickly went viral. According to WESH, the Nazi flag came out and the fights started after Azoulay walked to the ring with an Israeli flag.

After winning the fight, Miller, who has a prominent SS tattoo on his chest, gave two Nazi salutes from the ring.

In the wake of this chud absurdity, plenty of people — including Democratic Florida state rep Anna Eskamani, whose district includes the arena — have called for the city of Orlando, which owns and operates the Kia Center, to reevaluate its policies on the kinds of events that it books. In a social media statement, Orlando's city-owned venues said that they "unequivocally condemn all forms of hate speech, discrimination, antisemitism, racism and any message that encourages hatred or violence against any person or group." But they also said that they're "bound by the First Amendment" and thus "cannot deny access because we disagree with the political ideology, opinion or perspective, regardless of the message."

The Kia Center is the home of the NBA's Orlando Magic and the ECHL's Orlando Solar Bears, and it also serves as a major music venue. Last month, the building hosted shows from Don Toliver, Bryan Adams, and Pat Benatar, and its upcoming schedule includes Rosalía, Gorillaz, the Wu-Tang Clan, Grupo Frontera, Le Sserafim, and Garth Brooks. It's also where Donald Trump announced his 2020 reelection campaign.