A woman says she was thrown out of an Austin FC game during Hispanic Heritage Night and received a 12-month ban from Q2 Stadium for attending a game wearing an “Abolish ICE” T-shirt.
The incident, which the woman, Daniela Silva, chronicled in a now-viral Instagram video, comes amid heightened tensions in Texas, and especially Austin, in the wake of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s shooting of Venezuelan migrant Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez last week.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers sparked additional outrage by arresting progressive Austin City Council candidate Misael Ramos as she participated in protests hours after Perez’s shooting. She faces a Class B misdemeanor charge of engaging in a riot.
In a statement, Austin FC officials said the decision to remove Silva wasn’t theirs but was based on a Major League Soccer (MLS) policy.
“Austin FC is committed to providing a welcoming, safe and respectful environment for all fans,” the franchise said in a statement.
Silva told the Current that two security guards approached her moments before Austin FC took the pitch in a matchup last Saturday against San Diego FC. The pair told her that her shirt violated stadium policy.
“I continuously asked to see a policy, and it felt like they were passing the buck,” Silva said. “I was just waiting until the buck was passed to someone with enough authority to show me this policy that they were talking about. But at no point was I shown the policy. They just kept mentioning that it was online.”
MLS rules on conduct at team stadiums prohibit “displaying signs, symbols, or images for commercial purposes or for electioneering, campaigning, or advocating for or against any candidate, political party, legislative issue, or government action.”
Silva said she wore the T-shirt not to cause a ruckus but in solidarity with people who marched to the stadium before the game to raise awareness about an alleged ICE staging site located near the Austin FC front office.
“Despite reports to the contrary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hasn’t been present at Q2 Stadium during matches, including Saturday night,” Austin FC said in a statement. “We can also confirm that ICE does not use Austin FC’s office or facilities.”
Silva said stadium officials offered to give her a complimentary Austin FC T-shirt after she was approached by security. However, she refused, citing Perez’s shooting and Ramos’ arrest.
“It just felt like capitulation to the Trump Administration for the sake of neutrality, and neutrality in the face of oppression and siding with the oppressors felt wrong to me,” Silva said. “Especially for an entire company and business that makes its money off of promoting Latino culture.”
After she refused the T-shirt, security removed her from the stadium and slapped her with a 12-month ban from the grounds, she said.
“We provided the option of receiving a complimentary T-shirt to remain compliant with the policy or to leave the venue,” Austin FC said in its statement. “The situation was handled in accordance with the venue’s matchday policies.”
Even so, Silva told the Current she had no issue getting through stadium security while wearing the anti-ICE shirt. It wasn’t until she got to her seats, which were close to the field and within view of television cameras, that security approached her, she added.
“Even if that is the policy, it’s a bad policy,” Silva said. “We don’t live in a vacuum where suddenly you can enter a stadium, and now politics doesn’t exist, and harmful policies don’t exist.”
Silva continued: “We literally have a fascist in our highest elected office. It’s times like these where the people with power, like the MLS, should be using their power to stand up for the people who allow them to be as wealthy as they are.”
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