According to one member of The Daily Show’s American Indian panel, Washington Redskins fans were less than respectful to the people they “deeply respect” when those people actually showed up to witness the gladiatorial contest conducted in honor of their ancient heritage. This testosterone-and-Bud-Light-fueled farce took place outside Landover, MD’s FedEx Field, as members of the American Indian sketch comedy group The 1491s showed up to talk to fans with a camera crew and The Daily Show’s Jason Jones in tow.
Not content to make one deeply respectful fan cry during their controversial confrontation with Redskins fans the day before, the American Indian interlopers insisted on invading the football lovers’ sacred tailgating grounds, making people so uncomfortable, they were forced to act like jackasses in self-defense. According to 1491s member Migizi Pensoneau, the group was met with outright hostility, intimidation, and threats of physical violence—including one woman who was so offended by Pensoneau’s “Caucasians” T-shirt that she threatened to “fucking cut” him.
Pensoneau says that the confrontations grew so ugly that he was afraid for his life, a claim that seems to be backed up by the fact that The Daily Show deemed the footage too “intense” and ultimately cut it from its segment on the topic. But what else would you expect when a once-proud people, forced to change its traditional lifestyle, is faced with extinction and buying a whole new set of football jerseys?