WARNING: This story and the accompanying audio contain strong language.
A newly released police report, obtained by KJZZ News, details a racial tirade involving Scottsdale gallery owner Gilbert Ortega Jr. during the taping of an ESPN Super Bowl LVII segment on Feb. 8, 2023.
He was initially charged with three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct the next day. Those charges were dropped on Feb. 10, 2024, after a yearlong investigation, but there are still conflicting accounts about what exactly was said.
The Scottsdale police report includes a verbatim transcript of the conflict and the words that Ortega directed both in English and the Diné language to a group of Indigenous performers, some of whom were Navajo, including Denise Rosales, owner of the Native Art Market in Old Town.
Indigenous flutist Cody Blackbird — one of the performers — spoke to The Young Turks, a progressive news and commentary program, about what happened. Blackbird said initial accounts of what Ortega had uttered in Diné were: “I will ‘F’ you up.”
“And we’ve had, I would say now, probably 15 speakers that have reached out to us — fluent speakers,” Blackbird added, “that have said, ‘No. The actual translation of what he said is, ‘I’m the devil. You’re my slave. And I will rape you, and I will own you.’’”
The city’s police department transcribed the entire encounter, including Ortega’s non-English remarks, with help from an FBI Navajo linguist. According to the FBI, he only said, “Shut up,” “Stupid,” “Idiot,” and “I f-ck” three times in the Diné language while thrusting his arms and hips in a sexual gesture.
Ortega, who grew up in Gallup, New Mexico, apologized a day after last year’s incident, expressing that he was “embarrassed and ashamed” by his actions. “I came off as incredibly insensitive,” said Ortega, adding that “if I could go back and change my words and behavior, I certainly would.”
His Scottsdale-based defense attorney, Cameron Morgan, did not immediately respond to KJZZ News’ request for comment about the contents of the police report.
