Madison Square Garden security allegedly tracked a trans woman’s movements, including bathroom breaks, down to the second

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The security staff for Jim Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, as well as the CEO of Madison Square Garden, allegedly used surveillance technology to track a transgender woman’s near-every movement during her frequent visits to the New York sporting venue, per a bombshell new report in Wired.

The report alleges that Dolan has been using face-recognition technology in excessive and intrusive ways since at least 2018, watching a plethora of people, including his personal critics, at both Madison Square Garden, as well as his other properties, including Radio City Music Hall and the Sphere in Las Vegas. The report describes MSG as his own “panopticon.”

One of the most obsessively tracked people under Dolan’s alleged paranoid watch has been Nina Richards, a trans woman who, according to Wired, was monitored during a two-year period when she frequented the venue. (Richards is a pseudonym for the woman, who requested the outlet not name her due to privacy concerns.)

The report claims that, shortly after the Garden’s reopening in 2021, Richards “became a fixation” for Dolan’s chief security officer John Eversole. Eversole allegedly compiled a dossier on Richards solely for the reason that she was a trans woman and “wanted to keep her away from the players,” per Wired. This reportedly included entering her face into the venue’s facial recognition system.

A lawsuit filed by former MSG security vice president Donald Ingrasselino claims that Eversole would show Richards’ picture during weekly meetings, misgender her, and tell his employees to look out for “him or it or whatever it is.” The suit also claimed Richards was targeted “because of her gender identity.”

An employee likewise told Wired that “she posed no threat” but was forced to monitor her by Eversole."She wasn’t taking pictures in restricted areas. She wasn’t trying to go places she shouldn’t be,” the source continued. “This is just a very large transgender woman, being a fan, walking around.”

As part of its investigation into Dolan, Wired reviewed a dossier put together on Richards during a January 10, 2022 Knicks game against the San Antonio Spurs, which also happened to be a Pride night game. The 18-page report on Richards’ movement during the night includes a down-to-the second trail of when she scanned her ticket, when she used the escalator, when she hugged an usher, when she ordered drinks, and ate. The camera also documented her entering the women's bathroom, as well as her exit two minutes and five seconds later.

Noah Shachtman, one of the two writers behind Wired’s story, also shared photos from the dossier on X. “Jim Dolan's security team at Madison Square Garden surveilled this woman over the course of *years* ... because she was trans,” Shachtman wrote in a post accompanying the photos.

Speaking about the dossier, Wired notes that the “document’s background turns red” when chronicling Richards’ movements toward the lower floor seats and “celebrity row” at the Garden. The file says that Richards spoke to a security guard that night around 9:06 p.m. and then sat in “celebrity row” 34 seconds later. The report included images of the night from Richards’ Instagram, including photos of her standing on the court in a glittery jacket and boots.

Ingrasselino’s lawsuit claimed that Eversole was worried that an “openly” trans woman in that area could “damage MSG’s reputation.”

One employee told Wired that the “very sight of Richards” made upper management at the Garden uncomfortable. “Eversole did not similarly limit access to others who socialized with athletes, including individuals who had extensive criminal histories and had the potential of posing a legitimate threat to MSG,” according to the suit, which makes the case that Richards was being singled out solely for her gender identity.

Every source who spoke to Wired about the surveillance of Richards either used the word “excessive” or a synonym to describe the lengths Dolan and Eversole went to track her, per Wired.

“This was harassment. This was not OK,” another former staffer told Wired.

Richards was later banned from the Garden and has erased her online presence, including her Instagram, which had 44,0000 followers. Per Ingrasselino’s lawsuit, Eversole “[f]abricated a stalking allegation to justify banning” her.

An MSG spokesperson didn’t comment on Richards’ treatment to Wired, but, per Ingrasselino’s lawsuit, lawyers for MSG called the allegation “a clear attempt to cast Eversole in a negative light.”

Likewise, Dolan’s team at MSG declined to comment on Wired’s investigation overall. A spokesperson said that the story was “built on false, misleading and unverified allegations, including claims drawn from lawsuits filed by rapacious litigators.” They added that they “categorically reject such reckless reporting” and are “actively evaluating our legal options against WIRED.”

This story originally appeared on Them.us.