NC State announcer suspended for controversial 'illegal aliens' reference

Steff Thomas

December 31, 04:47 PM December 31, 04:48 PM

North Carolina State University sports announcer Gary Hahn has been indefinitely suspended following controversial comments during the Duke’s Mayo Bowl game on Friday, his employer said.

Hahn, who has worked for Learfield Communications as a radio broadcaster since 1991, referenced the “illegal aliens” in El Paso, Texas, amid the game between the N.C. State Wolfpack and the Terrapins from the University of Maryland.

"Down among all the illegal aliens in El Paso, it's UCLA leading Pitt," he said during the broadcast.

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The school issued a statement on behalf of Learfield, which is the rights holder for all N.C. State football broadcasts, following Hahn’s comments, announcing his suspension. But the employer has yet to provide further details.

General Manager Kyle Winchester of Wolfpack Sports Properties wrote: "Learfield has suspended Wolfpack Sports Network play-by-play announcer Gary Hahn from his agreement indefinitely following comments made during today’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl radio broadcast."

The controversial remarks come after the Democratic mayor of El Paso declared a state of emergency over a continued influx of immigrants, which is expected to get worse should the Trump-era Title 42 policy expire under the Biden administration.

"I said from the beginning that I would call it when I felt that either our asylum-seekers or community were not safe," El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said in a statement earlier in December.

“And I really believe that today, our asylum-seekers are not safe as we have hundreds and hundreds on the streets, and that’s not the way we want to treat people,” he said.

The Sun Bowl also canceled its annual fan fest last week due to the city’s convention center being used to house illegal immigrants awaiting processing.

More than 10,000 immigrants were released into El Paso last week, and more than 84,000 were released in a four-month period that ended in early December, according to publicly available city data.

In the end, N.C. State lost 16-12 to Maryland on Friday, finishing the season at 8-5.

Hahn is scheduled to broadcast the Wolfpack's men's basketball game against Duke on Wednesday unless his suspension continues.