AFPI FILES FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT OVER EJECTION AND BAN OF ENES FREEDOM

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of former NBA player and human rights advocate Enes Kanter Freedom, alleging that he was ejected from a publicly owned arena and banned indefinitely because of his viewpoint on women’s sports.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, names Chicago Women’s Basketball Operations LLC, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, and the City of Chicago as defendants.

Freedom, an 11-year NBA veteran and longtime member of AFPI’s Athletes for America coalition, formally announced in August that he would enter the 2027 WNBA draft to force clarity and consistency in the league’s player-eligibility rules.

On Aug. 23, Freedom attended an Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game at Wintrust Arena wearing a T-shirt defining a woman as an “adult human female.” According to the complaint, a Chicago Sky player approached Freedom during the third quarter and shouted profanities at him. Freedom responded that he was there to protect women and support Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham.

Arena security and Chicago police subsequently removed Freedom without providing a specific reason. The Chicago Sky owner, Michael Alter, later announced that he was banned indefinitely from Wintrust Arena.

The government cannot retaliate over the exercise of First Amendment rights or suppress certain points of view while allowing others.

“I came to watch a basketball game, support women, and state a basic biological truth,” Freedom said. “I threatened no one. Yet I was removed and banned from a publicly owned arena because my views made powerful people uncomfortable. In America, disagreement is not a threat, and I will not be bullied into silence.”

The complaint alleges that the government violated Freedom’s constitutional rights by ejecting him based on a point of view and not any actual danger or threat. Freedom is asking the court to once again be allowed to exercise constitutional rights and for the unconstitutional ban from the arena to be lifted.

“Public officials cannot outsource censorship to a sports franchise,” said Chad Mizelle, senior fellow for Law and Justice at AFPI. “The complaint alleges that a municipal authority and Chicago police joined the Chicago Sky in removing Enes from public property and enforcing an indefinite ban because of his viewpoint. Government cannot punish protected expression simply because influential people dislike the message. We are asking the court to end the ban and hold the defendants accountable.”

The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the defendants violated Freedom’s First Amendment rights, a permanent injunction lifting the ban, and nominal damages.