Louisiana
‘You ain’t getting it here.’ Louisiana store owner denies border patrol
Video of South Jersey ICE visit goes viral on Facebook
Watch this doorbell camera video from Burlington Township showing masked ICE agents speaking with a homeowner.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, a convenience store manager in Kenner, Louisiana locked out a group of Border Patrol agents, denying them entry to the store.
Wayne Davis, who is assistant manager of the store, was helping a customer when he noticed two unmarked SUVs pull into the parking lot and stop at the front of the store.
After seeing agents wearing border patrol vests exit the two vehicles, Davis locked the door from behind the counter as the agents approached, WWL Louisiana reported.
Video goes viral of Louisiana store manager who locked out Border Patrol agents
The agents kept trying to open the door, looking at Davis through the store window in confusion. This is when Davis began recording, WWL Louisiana reported.
In the video, Davis is seen raising his middle finger to the agents outside before moving from his place behind the counter and standing at the entrance of the store.
From behind the store’s closed door, Davis begins goading the agents lingering outside near the store’s front.
“What do you want man, you want some chicken? You ain’t getting it here… Go somewhere else, you ain’t getting no chicken,” Davis taunts.
After noticing Davis recording on his cellphone from within the store, one of the only agents seen without facial coverings turns his back to the door.
“Dang, you don’t wanna show your face now?… I know you can hear me… Why you not showing your face? You wanted to show your face everywhere else,” Davis provokes while still recording.
Davis told WWL Louisiana that, at this point, he realized the agent was Gregory Bovino, who is commander of Border Patrol and has been in New Orleans as part of Operation Catahoula Crunch.
“Bye, bye,” Davis said facetiously while waving from behind the store’s locked door as agents retreated back into their vehicles.
Davis is seen in the video raising his middle finger once more as the unmarked SUVS drive away and exit the parking lot
Can businesses refuse entry to Border Patrol agents?
Louisiana state law dictates interfering with immigration operations a felony offense, considering interfering actions an obstruction of justice.
However, businesses generally retain the right to refuse service to any person for any reason, unless that person belongs to a protected class, which immigration enforcement agents are not a part of.
Furthermore, if a business denies immigration enforcement agents entry, they cannot forcibly enter unless there is a judicial warrant signed by a judge, according to the ACLU.
Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com
Louisiana
After redistricting battles, Southern gathers for Juneteenth celebration: ‘Continue the fight’
Hundreds of community members, alumni and students gathered Thursday to observe Juneteenth on the Southern University campus in Baton Rouge.
The theme of the festivities was “celebrating freedom through culture and community,” but weeks after Louisiana’s bitter redistricting battles, the speakers Thursday morning had one message driving their remarks: Get out and vote.
“Freedom does not come in on the wheels of inevitability,” Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice John Michael Guidry said to the crowd. “But it takes the prodigious work and the tireless efforts of those who are willing to continue the fight.”
Great Beginnings summer camper Myni, 4, gets a hello kitty face painting during Southern’s Juneteenth celebration on Thursday, June 18, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
The speech kicked off a day of discussions and cultural events centered on the holiday of Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger brought news of emancipation to enslaved people in Texas more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Speakers at Southern emphasized the need for protection of hard-won rights for Black Americans in the context of redistricting. The sentiments followed a contentious state legislative session that ended with the elimination of one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
“That Voting Rights Act is under attack,” Guidry said. “There’s voter intimidation, there’s voter suppression, there are voter ID laws and all types of laws and legal decisions that are trying to deny us our right to vote, and we are the ones who have to go forward and litigate these issues.”
The day opened with a libation ceremony and a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Southern University student Claire Floyd.
Southern University alumnus Jeanet Cazenave said she felt it was important to celebrate Juneteenth on campus as not only a relative of the first dean of Southern University but also a descendant of the GU272, a group of enslaved individuals who were sold to plantations in Louisiana in 1838 by Jesuit priests to pay the debts of what is now Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Juneteenth “means everything,” Cazenave said. “It means the past, the present and the future.”
Louisiana
Gov. Landry declares state of emergency after flooding, severe weather across Louisiana
BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) — Governor Landry has officially declared Louisiana under state of emergency.
The state emergency declaration covers Avoyelles, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Tammany and Terrebonne parishes.
The declaration was issued Thursday following the impacts of Tropical Storm Arthur, which brough rainfall and strong storms to parts of the state on June 17 and 18.
Officials said the National Weather Service has confirmed three tornadoes tied to the storm system.
Officials also reported record or near-record rainfall totals in Avoyelles and Pointe Coupee parishes over a 12-hour period.
The order allows the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to coordinate resources and provide assistance to local governments if needed.
Certain state purchasing and bidding requirements have been temporarily suspended to speed up emergency response efforts.
The declaration took effect immediately and will remain in place through July 18 unless it is lifted or extended.
State officials are urging residents to stay weather aware, avoid flooded roadways and follow guidance from local emergency managers.
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