Longtime Dodgers fan George Lopez says he has abandoned team over owner’s links to ICE

Hispanic comedian George Lopez says he has given up his longtime devotion to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Lakers after discovering the owner’s investments in federal immigration detainment centers.

Lopez made the comments on a Facebook post and during an interview with Shaquille O’Neal on “The Big Podcast” released June 10. Clips from the episode have gone viral on social media this week.

‘So as soon as I found that out, I disassociated myself. … I lost two teams in one week.’

The team has tried to encourage its fandom among members of the Latino community in Los Angeles despite activists’ complaints about the displacement of a Latino community when the stadium was built in 1959.

Lopez, who was born in 1961, referred to that history when he said the team blocked him on Facebook after he called them out for not speaking out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in L.A.

“So they’ll take a stand on me, but not on the treatment of the families who called Chavez Ravine home before they decided to build a baseball stadium where they lived and where their families called home,” Lopez responded. “Also, no comment from the owners. … If anyone doesn’t belong, it’s the Dodgers.”

Lopez had been a common sight at the Dodgers games and had participated in many promotions with the team.

The Dodgers principal owner Mark Walter reportedly held a financial stake in the GEO Group, which operates for-profit detention centers. He also leads TWG Global, which has links to Palantir Technologies, a company that has received millions from ICE for data analytics.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Walter’s investment firm had completely divested from GEO Group as of March.

Lopez told O’Neal that he also dropped his support for the Lakers.

“Mark Walter owns detention centers and runs them for profit,” Lopez said.

“So as soon as I found that out, I disassociated myself from the Dodgers and the [Los Angeles] Lakers, unfortunately. I lost two teams in one week.”

RELATED: LA Dodgers say they blocked ICE at stadium after campaign to pressure team to condemn deportations

He added the complaint about Chavez Ravine.

“The idea that Dodgers Stadium was built on a Latino neighborhood that was, people were forcibly removed in the late ‘50s,” he continued.

“Then, when I found out they run that [detention] thing for profit and part of ICE and where they put people, I dissociated myself.”

While activists continue to call for Latinos and others to boycott the Dodgers, a recent report showed the team still enjoys the highest attendance rate in the entire league, with 50,544 per game.

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