Seattle, WA

Seattle dance squad says they were told American flag shirts made audience members feel 'triggered and unsafe'

Published

2 years ago

April 10, 2024

Seattle dance squad says they were told American flag shirts made audience members feel 'triggered and unsafe'

Members of a regional women’s country line dance team were reportedly kicked out of a Seattle dance convention after organizers claimed their American flag-themed shirts made some attendees feel “triggered and unsafe.”

Over the weekend at the Emerald City Hoedown in Seattle, the Borderline Dance team was set to perform, but were essentially told they weren’t welcome by organizer Rain Country Dance Association, an LGBTQ+ dance community, over their matching American flag themed shirts, Jason Rantz reported for 770 KTTH.

“Unfortunately, what our team was met with upon arrival was that our flag tops were offensive to some of the convention goers,” the dance group posted to Facebook. “There was a small group that felt ‘triggered and unsafe.’”

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Co-captain Lindsay Stamp spoke with Rantz for The Jason Rantz Show, explaining that their costumes sparked a “small percentage” of complainants who brought up Israel’s war against Hamas and transgender issues.

“At first we were told we would just be boo’d, yelled at and likely many of them would walk out,” the group’s Facebook post explained. “This did not deter us. But then we were given an ultimatum. Remove the flag tops and perform in either street clothes (which most didn’t bring as they traveled there in their uniforms) or they would supply us with ECH shirts from years past… Or, don’t perform at all, which effectively was asking us to leave.”

“We don’t speak for our team, we speak on behalf of them so the choice was theirs,” the post said. “As we knew would happen because there really was no choice in our minds, it was a unanimous NO.”

The Borderline Dance Team

Stamp told Rantz that members of the team were shocked after they spent only 30 minutes at the venue before they started receiving complaints, adding that the team is patriotic, but doesn’t make statements about politics.

“My team doesn’t take a political stance. We came to dance,” she said. “We’re a patriotic group. We support our military, our veterans, our first responders. We’re a group of patriots.”

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In the Facebook post, the group said they were not the only one that received this treatment.

“Our friends, West Coast Country Heat, who were also scheduled to dance for the convention that evening also did not perform as they too proudly don the colors of our country in the same spirit of patriotism that we do,” the post said. “Both of our teams stood in solidarity and put actions to words.”

But, the group said watching the two teams band together was “the greatest performance.”

“These people are strong, resolute and unwavering in their patriotism,” the Borderline Dance Team said. “They are the families and friends of people who have suffered the unimaginable so that we may all have our own opinions and sleep soundly in our beds at night. THAT is why we wear the colors. Because although we may not always agree with the current state of things, we recognize that being an American means true FREEDOM.”

“We all understood and accepted this and walked out with class and dignity despite the discrimination we had experienced,” the post added.

The Rain Country Dance Association did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment but indirectly addressed the incident on Facebook.

“Hi y’all! After the close of another amazing Hoedown weekend, we know there are some questions about the Saturday night performance line-up,” the post read. “We appreciate y’all giving us the time to clear up misunderstandings and address the situation with people directly involved. We will be posting a follow-up statement later this week once we are able to have those conversations.”

In a Facebook comment, board president Ziadee Cambier said members of the Borderline Dance Team weren’t asked to leave.

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“We will be in continued communication with the captains of the dance teams that were slated to perform Saturday,” she wrote. “To clarify, as this was not a competition, no one was disqualified and no one was asked to leave. While we are mending our relationships directly with the dance teams we will be disabling comments on this post. We will be sharing more information later this week, to hopefully clear up any misunderstandings.”

Stamp disagreed and told Rantz she didn’t think there was miscommunication.

“It’s pretty clear to me, there’s always room for error in any situation, but I don’t believe so,” she said.

“I would just love to see more conversations opened about people accepting one another,” she added. “About being wholly inclusive. You know, every group of person talks about being inclusive and accepting. And I think that we need to work on being inclusive and accepting of people outside of our immediate comfort zones. I would love to see that.”

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Kendall Tietz is a Production Assistant with Fox News Digital.

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Seattle, WA

Seahawks Will Host Rams Or 49ers In Divisional Round

Published

7 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Seahawks Will Host Rams Or 49ers In Divisional Round

The Seahawks will host an NFC West opponent in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Whether that opponent is the Rams or the 49ers will be determined on Sunday when the 49ers play the Eagles in Philadelphia. Also still to be determined is the date and time of the game.

The Rams, who are the No. 5 seed, beat the Panthers on Saturday to advance, and since Seattle, as the No. 1 seed, hosts the lowest-seeded team that advances out of the wild card round, the sixth-seeded 49ers would come to Lumen Field if they win on Sunday. If the Eagles win, however, the Rams would come to Seattle, while the Eagles would head to Chicago to face the Bears, who beat the Packers on Saturday night.

The Seahawks split the season series with both teams, losing to the 49ers in Week 1 and the Rams in Week 11 before beating the Rams in Week 16 and the 49ers in Week 18 as part of a seven-game winning streak that helped them win the NFC West and earn the No. 1 seed.

Next weekend’s game at Lumen Field will be the Seahawks’ first home playoff game with fans in the stadium—they hosted a wild card game in an empty stadium following the 2020 regular season—since they beat the Lions in the wild card round during the 2016 season. Prior to that empty-stadium loss to the Rams five years ago, the Seahawks won 10 consecutive home playoff games dating back to the start of their Super Bowl run in 2005. The Seahawks have reached the Super Bowl in each of the three previous seasons that they earned the No. 1 seed.

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Seattle, WA

Paul Arriola, Pedro de la Vega and the Seattle Sounders return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Published

20 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Paul Arriola, Pedro de la Vega and the Seattle Sounders return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Forgotten. Absent. Inconsistently healthy. Weights of expectation.

These heroes offered glimpses and scenes of their greatness in 2025.

Paul Arriola, X Man

Paul Arriola gave us a glimpse of his former greatness before his injury. Once a DP, once the highest value transfer within MLS, once recruited to skip MLS entirely for what was at the time a much better league, Arriola’s all comps contributions per 90 would compare to wingback style players Jordi Alba and the now-gone Ali Ahmed.

Arriola slides right in that space, with his 0.57. Now, a discerning reader such as yourself will imagine small sample sizes and opponent quality. You would be correct. But Paul also put up similar numbers in MLS in 2018, 2021 and 2022. His time in MLS as a whole is .40/90 (in the realm of last season’s Christian Espinoza).

Defining Arriola’s role is always going to be hard. He’s played as many wide roles as exist in the modern game. With Seattle, he could be a left or right winger in a four-front if they choose to run a 3-2-4-1, or a wingback in a 3-4-2-1 or a conventional winger in a 4-2-3-1. No matter his role, he’s been strong. His calls to the US National Team ran every year from age 20-27, when he put up better numbers there than he did in league play. He’s now 30.

Pedro de la Vega, the injury saga

Sounders fans know how bright Pedro can burn. So do, Lanus fans, Argentina fans, Cruz Azul fans, Santos Laguna fans, Tijuana fans, Puebla, Galaxy, Inter Messi and a smattering of other MLS teams. The Leagues Cup player of the year and wonder goal nominee is absolutely thrilling, when available.

Lanus, Argentina and Seattle also know his history of injuries. Injuries are why he’s in Seattle.

PdlV only played 41% of available minutes in all competitions. A healthy winger of his quality should be around 66% or so. His absolutely stellar all comps performance of 0.72 is on par with Hany Mukhtar, at 20th in MLS play. Pedro is ahead of Diego Rossi, Djordje Mihailovic, and Dejan Joveljić.

When you think about how the Seattle Sounders will make up ground for the inevitable decline of Danny Musovski the names Arriola and de la Vega should be bandied about.

They weren’t merely better than the people who replaced them on the Sounders – they’re better than the majority of high-profile players in the league.

In 2025 Craig Waibel raised the floor and the peak. Injuries gave us only a few glimpses of that peak.

2026 is when the multi-competition heroic Sounders can once again show their prowess and why their presence as a top tier club is eternal.

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Catching up on Sounder at Heart

Here’s what you missed on the site this week.

Sounders

Next match: Sunday, February 22, 2026 v. the Colorado Rapids | 6 p.m. PT | Apple TV/FS1

Reign

Schedule to come next week.

Defiance

Schedule to come.

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Seattle, WA

Here’s why the Blue Angels in Seattle on Monday

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Here’s why the Blue Angels in Seattle on Monday

SEATTLE – Known for their high-flying skills above the skies during air shows, the Blue Angels will be in Seattle once again on Monday.

But with Seafair not until the summer, many are wondering why the Navy pilots are in the Emerald City ahead of schedule.

Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornets are flying The Diamond Roll (four planes in formation), doing a 360-degree roll as one unit, flying at 400 mph over Lake Washington for the Seafair weekend in Seattle. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Keep reading to find out why the U.S. Navy Blue Angels are in Seattle on Jan. 12.

Why are the Blue Angels in Seattle now?

The Blue Angels returned to Seattle on Monday to begin preseason planning for the 2026 Boeing Seafair Air Show.

Pilots will assess airshow locations, scouting the skies and getting familiar with the landscape ahead of the Seafair Weekend Festival, when they perform in three separate air shows. Their visit brings the iconic Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornets to the city, the aircraft pilots use during the air show.

Blue Angels pilots plan to stay in Seattle until Tuesday, coordinating with Seafair event organizers. Last year, only two Blue Angels pilots were in Seattle for preseason planning, instead of the entire squadron.

When are the Blue Angels coming back to Seattle?

The Blue Angels will fly back to western Washington for the 2026 Boeing Seafair Air Show, on Friday, July 31 – Sunday, August 2, 2026.

They’ll also be in town for two practice runs on Thursday, July 30.

When is the 2026 Seafair Air Show?

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will perform in three air shows throughout Seafair weekend. They’re happening each afternoon on July 31 through Aug. 2 on Lake Washington and at Genesee Park.

The multi-day Seafair Weekend Festival also includes the Apollo Mechanical Cup Hydroplane Races, along with live entertainment, food and drinks, and family-friendly activities. Tickets for the festival go on sale in February.

Who are the Blue Angels?

The Blue Angels is a team of elite Navy flight demonstrators, showcasing their aviation skills in high-speed, precision aerobatic performances.

They perform in air shows across the U.S. each year, with the goal of inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country, displaying the teamwork and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

Formed in 1946, this year marks the 80th year of the Blue Angels. They take pride in performing for audiences both at home and abroad, showcasing the excitement, precision, and power of Naval aviation.

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The Source: Information in this story came from U.S. Navy Blue Angels, Seafair, and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.

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