Team GB skier Gus Kenworthy says he received death threats after anti-ICE post
Team GB’s Gus Kenworthy has received death threats after speaking out about Immigration and Customs Enforcement.(Instagram/guskenworty)
Team GB’s Gus Kenworthy has said he received death threats after sharing an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) post.
On 5 February, the 34-year-old skier shared an anti-ICE post on Instagram, following increased public scrutiny of ICE in the wake of the fatal January shootings of Renee Nicole Good, and Alex Pretti.
Kenworthy’s post showed snow between his two skis reading “F*** ICE”, seemingly written in urine.
In a video uploaded on Sunday (8 February), Kenworth shared that he has been subjected to backlash over the post.
‘It’s insane’
He said in the video: “The other day I posted a photo with my thoughts on ICE and that photo has since gone everywhere, and I’ve gotten a ton of messages and most of them honestly have been supportive and encouraging…
“But a lot of the messages have been awful, people telling me to kill myself, threatening me, wishing they’ll get to see me blow my knee or break my neck during my event, calling me slurs… it’s insane.”
He added: “I think it’s important to say what we feel, and stand up for what we believe in, and stand up to injustice,” before concluding that you can still be a proud American, as he is, while believing the country “can be better”.
“Just because you love the US doesn’t mean you stand with this administration,” he continued, before describing ICE as “evil” and “terrifying”.
Ariana Grande’s brother, Frankie, responded to the video, writing: “I’m so proud of you Gus. Thank you for speaking up… with your pee pee.”
Swiss freestyle skier Sarah Hoefflin commented on Kenworthy and other athletes choosing to speak out against ICE, writing: “The world is proud of you for speaking up for what’s right, you all know you’re doing the right thing and you’re all absolute heroes for doing this, because it’s a hard thing to do.”
Kenworthy is representing Team GB at his fourth Winter Olympics in Italy. He won silver at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 and also competed in PyeongChang in 2018, both for the US. He took part in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing for Team GB.
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