Lord Buffalo Drummer 'Forcibly Removed' From Plane and Detained by Border Patrol; Band Cancels European Tour

[Nevilledog]

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/lord-buffalo-drummer-detained-by-border-patrol-1236397990/

Yamal Said, drummer of the Austin, Texas-based rock band Lord Buffalo, was forcibly removed from a plane and detained by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Monday while en route to the band’s European tour; he has had no contact with his bandmates for two days, according to a social media post from the group. Said (pictured above, left) is a Mexican citizen but a legal permanent resident of the United States and holder of a green card, according to the post.

“We are heartbroken to announce we have to cancel our upcoming European tour,” the band wrote. “Our drummer, Yamal Said, who is a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States (green card holder) was forcibly removed from our flight to Europe by Customs and Border Patrol at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday May 12. He has not been released, and we have been unable to contact him. We are currently working with an immigration lawyer to find out more information and to attempt to secure his release.

“We are devastated to cancel this tour, but we are focusing all of our energy and resources on Yamal’s safety and freedom,” the post continues. “We are hopeful that this is a temporary setback and that it could be safe for us to reschedule this tour in the future. In our absence, our touring partners @orsakoslo will continue to perform the tour. We urge everyone to go see this amazing band and support them over the next couple weeks.”

According to the Austin Chronicle, Said has been an Austin resident since the 1980s, when his parents relocated the family here following an earthquake in Mexico City. He is a longtime staple of the Austin music scene and previously played with the band the Black, and also worked as a music instructor and substitute teacher at the Texas School for the Blind.

Variety has reached out to the band and its rep for further updates.

*the end*

[Blue Owl]

1. K&R for visibility

[underpants]

2. substitute teacher at the Texas School for the Blind.

Good luck. I need to check out their music

[tulipsandroses]

7. Sounds like a dangerous guy

[Bernardo de La Paz]

51. No sarcasm, he is dangerous. Violated protective order twice last year. Felony. DU link

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220317358

[SpankMe]

66. I get it. But 2 days incommunicado?

This was a state arrest, not a fed one. He should be in contact with his lawyer and his family and band should know his status.

[Demovictory9]

71. Oh..he thought he could ignore warrant

[momta]

25. I just listened to some of it.

They remind me of the Doors. Not really my cup of tea, but I might buy a few of their songs anyway.

[Lovie777]

3. WOW...........

[2naSalit]

4. Nobody leaves texas!

WTF?

[tanyev]

5. I've been wondering how many spectators for the World Cup games will be rounded up.

Now I’m wondering how many players and team staff will get rounded up.

[the nelm]

23. I keep wondering when they're going to start going after international athletes here...

playing in various professional sports like baseball, soccer, etc. Or even amateur sports.

[travelingthrulife]

65. Not the rich ones.

I will take them seriously when they arrest Musk and Melania for lying to gain their citizenship.

[Clouds Passing]

6. So glad I chose to not live in Texas. I'm sorry to all the liberal Texans.

[DENVERPOPS]

14. I gotta tell you CP

we have tons of cars up here in Denver with Texas Plates.....maybe the smart ones are coming to the bluest state!!!!!

[LauraInLA]

20. We used to say, "Poor New Mexico/Colorado; so far from God, so close to Texas."

[DENVERPOPS]

24. We in Colorado

have had a strong dislike towards Texans coming up here since I was a kid. Even if the were only visiting.
There weren't that many coming, until John Denver started his Rocky Mountain High, then, almost overnight we were flooded with NewYork, Texas, and California plates coming to live here.....

Same as the people in Wyoming hate Colorado people. They loved our travel industry money, but hope we would just send the money and stay home.........

(Actually, the people in Wyoming, like about 30-40 other mostly RED states, get all the money they need from the Federal Government.....Receiving far more in Federal dollars, than they send to Washington. Don't know how many of the people in those states know that fact)....

[momta]

27. My husband and I moved to CO about thirty years ago.

I grew up in Texas, but had been living in Santa Monica for a few years. He grew up in Ventura. We were driving our moving van to Boulder (hubby was starting grad school), and we stopped in Glenwood Springs to spend the night.

On the news there was a local (Denver) news story about ALL the people moving into Colorado from Texas and California.

Guilty on both counts. But our kids are natives.

[DENVERPOPS]

32. I run into fewer and fewer oldsters

that are Colorado Natives.......

I was standing in a parking lot, and a guy was standing by his car, next to mine, boasting to his friend, out loud, about his Colorado "Heritage" car license plate.
I asked him what that meant....Heritage??? And he said he had to prove that his family had been in Colorado for more than four? generations to get the plate.....
I laughed out loud and said to him and his friend....."So you are basically bragging that fact, that YOUR ancestors, murdered MY ancestors???? You should be ashamed, not celebrating that fact"

He just stood there thinking about what I had just said......to be truthful he probably had never thought of it that way......

[gay texan]

31. Hold up there

I come up and vacay in CO. Spend some bucks there. One of my favorite gay hotels is in Brekenridge. I respect the state and i go home to Texas. In Colorado i can be gay and not get my skull caved in

[DENVERPOPS]

33. You should move out of that HATE STATE

and be welcomed here in Colorado.......

[gay texan]

37. The only reason im here

Is tgat i have an elderly parent to take care of. Otherwise you could color me GONE

[DENVERPOPS]

40. Bring your mom or dad with you

We would welcome them too

Although I don't think any location in the U.S. is a safe place at this point.....

[chowder66]

21. Or they are coming to cosplay as immigration officials.

[vanlassie]

41. Or needing abortions?

[ananda]

18. It's OK.

I'm already here and do not wish ill of anyone.

[wolfie001]

26. Not even donald dump?

[ananda]

35. Well, I'd like to see him in prison where he belongs.

For sure

[wolfie001]

61. Yes!

Me too!

[MagickMuffin]

29. 5th generation Texan, it used to be better until the republicans

They turned Texas into a political hellhole!

[DENVERPOPS]

34. MM

that is probably true of many RED STATES........

[MagickMuffin]

45. Karl Rove decided to play rumor mill politics

Gov. Ann Richards was his target and we got shrub a dub dub Bush the younger. Our state has paid the price since!

[DENVERPOPS]

59. I really, really, really miss

Molly Ivans.....may she RIP

[dem4decades]

8. He taught the blind? Obviously, a bad hombre. Thank you, Miller. Holman and Trump, for nothing. You scum.

[RVN VET71]

13. Not nothing. They have taught us and all Americans

what it was like living in Nazi Germany with the Gestapo knocking on every door.

(Please, somebody, tell me I'm exaggerating. But ICE and Homeland Security goons are feeling their oats more and more. And it's not just the browns, blacks, and non-christians they're arresting and incarcerating, either. I read a story written by a white Canadian woman who had been detained for 6 weeks and held incommunicado because of a border-crossing problem she had about a dozen years ago. A problem that had been long since resolved.)

Soon any American out and about will risk be accosted by these thugs asking "Your papers, please?" And even if you have your papers, that will not be protection against arbitrary arrest, incarceration, interrogation, and being "disappeared," as happened to thousands of Chilean citizens under the fascist police state ruled by General Pinochet.

As Pogo so famously said "We have met the enemy and he is us."

I fear for the future. I truly do.

[DENVERPOPS]

15. YES it is accelerating.......

The checks and balances have all gone away, and they feel more and more emboldened to act out with each and every day that passes........

Trump has studied Hitler's writings for year, openly stated that Hitler was a genius and accomplished incredible things.....
no small wonder they are acting like the Hitler Gestapo and SS more every single day.....

[AmandaRuth]

9. Then they came for the musicians...

[Volaris]

11. They should sue CBP for every single cent theyre not gonna make for lack of the European leg of the tour.

[madville]

42. Suing the federal government is almost impossible

Federal law enforcement is immune from
most lawsuits.

[DENVERPOPS]

16. More like:

They came for the Mexicans...........

[SunSeeker]

10. Did they have a warrant? I doubt it!!

[madville]

43. Yes there was a warrant (according to CBP)

CBP said he had an active arrest warrant so he was detained and then turned over to local authorities.


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/drummer-lord-buffalo-band-removed-customs-border-patrol-immigration-rcna206878

[SunSeeker]

58. The warrant had nothing to do with CBP. It was an arrest warrant for violating a restraining order.

See reply below yours.

[madville]

63. This happens in airports regularly

Also cruise ship terminals. International passengers are checked against NCIC by CBP and if a felony warrant (federal, state, county, city, whatever) pops up in the system they are detained and then handed over to the local law enforcement if it’s something lower level than a federal warrant. It’s then up to the jurisdiction that issued the warrant if they want to go through the process and expense to transfer/transport/extradite them back if they aren’t local.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

52. Felony arrest warrant for violating a protective order twice last year.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220317358

[BurnDoubt]

17. Meanwhile, THOUSANDS of armed domestic terrorists are roaming freely about, intimidating law-abiding Americans...

and threatening their "Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness".

[Festivito]

19. I see a very expensive lawsuit in our future. So much for tax breaks. nt

[madville]

48. Not for this one

He has an active felony warrant in Texas, this happens in US airports everyday to citizens and legal residents, they get turned over to local authorities like in this case.

[Festivito]

54. Thank you. ACTIVE Felony warrant. Family asks for privacy. Okay to take away.

There are some ways it could be bad to do this to him, but some of the votes were counted.

[chowder66]

22. Update: He has legal representation

The band said in an update to its posts on Wednesday afternoon that Said had secured legal representation and “we are waiting to hear what comes next.”

“We want to reiterate that we truly don’t know what’s going on,” the band wrote. “We have more questions than answers, but we will keep you posted as much as we can.”

CBP told NBC News on Wednesday that Said “was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday while attempting to depart the United States due to having an active arrest warrant” and was turned over to local law enforcement. The agency confirmed that he is a Mexican citizen and a lawful permanent resident.

CBP did not say what the active arrest warrant was for and referred NBC News to the Dallas-Fort Worth Department of Public Safety for additional details.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/drummer-lord-buffalo-band-removed-customs-border-patrol-immigration-rcna206878

[Hekate]

38. What did they get him for? Jaywalking?

[madville]

46. A felony warrant issued out of a Texas County

Warrant says he had violated a protective order twice within the previous year which apparently is a felony in Texas.

https://www.kut.org/austin/2025-05-14/austin-texas-lord-buffalo-drummer-removal-from-flight

[Hekate]

49. Okay, that's a bad thing. But so is hauling him off an airplane and disappearing him....

Which is why I am perturbed at what appears to be a growing pattern in the US.

On the one hand, they seem to have had a valid reason to arrest this man — on the other hand, the behavior of ICE, police, and armed, masked, badgeless and insignialess tough guys has thrown discredit on all LEOs by putting the fear of the Gestapo into Americans.

[madville]

50. CBP checks people departing internationally

It’s a standard practice, they catch US citizens and legal and illegal residents everyday that are attempting to travel with active felony warrants. They then turn them over to the local authorities, in this case Tarrant County, which is Fort Worth, TX.

Many foreign countries also have access to the U.S. databases and will deny entry to U.S. travelers that have felony warrants here at home.

[Ms. Toad]

53. That's the first thing I searched for - any negative criminal history.

The US has been using any excuse to remove legal resident status that they can find. I didn't find anything at the time, but this doesn't surprise me at all.

Word to the wise: Anyone who is not a citizen (and maybe even citizens) who has ever been arrested (or worse) for anything more serious than a misdemeanor should not be going anywhere CBP has jurisdiction (airports and 100 miles from any land/maritime entrance point) - especially not flying into or out of the country.

The last guilty plea I reviewed had a big warning (1st paragraph) that any felony plea would likely result in deportation - that warning has been there for at least a decade, since an older teen (adopted as a child, but never naturalized) near me pled guilty to a low-level felony to avoid the possibility of a longer term - and was deported to Brazil, where he was killed within a couple of years.

It shouldn't be that way. By until the mango menace leaves office it will be.

[pandr32]

28. This must stop.

It started with telling people that 'illegal aliens' were coming across our border and taking our jobs.
Then, they were mooching on our social safety net.
Then, they were rapists and murderers.
Then they were voting illegally.
Then, they were gang members.
And so on.

All the while the Felon's properties employ immigrants and potentially 'illegals' depending on how it is defined. Even if people come into this country and go through the immigration process they are being treated as criminals. Even American-born people of migrant parents are under the threat of being expatriated.
What made me so angry was during the first term of the bloated waste of resources people came to apply for asylum (a legal process) and were denied the right and had their families caged and torn apart. Many of them are lost to us now. No-one tracked what happened to them.
The Felon has three children born to mothers who lacked proper status, yet they are not at risk.

[uponit7771]

30. There's going to be blowback... No one's going to like it

[Hekate]

36. Jesus Christ on a Trailer Hitch, this grows more disgusting by the day

May Yamal Said be safe

[IronLionZion]

39. Hardened killer for sure, just look at him

https://voyageaustin.com/interview/life-work-with-yamal-said-of-north-austin/

His instagram https://www.instagram.com/yamalsaid/

[Blue Owl]

44. C'mon Americans -- it's time to RISE UP to this absolute BULLSHIT

[madville]

47. Latest news is he has a felony warrant

CBP typically checks US residents that are international passengers and won’t let them depart if they have active felony warrants. According to this article he had violated a protective order multiple times.

https://www.kut.org/austin/2025-05-14/austin-texas-lord-buffalo-drummer-removal-from-flight

[Skittles]

55. why couldn't they find him at home or at work?

seriously

[madville]

56. Police rarely track down people with warrants

Unless it’s for a serious felony or something that’s gotten a lot of media attention.

It’s usually more like this, someone gets stopped for headlight out, drivers license gets run, comes back with a felony warrant, person gets taken into custody, if the entity that issued the warrant is not local they’ll typically hold them until they decide if they’re going to extradite them back or not.

Many places won’t even bother to take someone with an out of town misdemeanor warrant into custody now because it’s doubtful most jurisdictions will want to go through the trouble and expense to bring them back.

[Skittles]

57. OK

and why would a foreign-born person with warrants be going out of the country in this environment; seems really fucking stupid......

[BeerBarrelPolka]

60. Right

He seems like a dim bulb. Violating a restraining order is not smart, but doing it twice shows a disconnect.

[James48]

62. Better check El Salvador.

Or Libya. You never know where they kidnapped him to.

[Martin68]

64. This has got to stop.

[JohnnyRingo]

67. They could have waited until he returned, but that wouldn't send a message.

ICE wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to sow fear into the non-white community right now.

[madville]

69. They wouldn't do that for any U.S Citizen either

It also wasn’t ICE, it was CBP that turned him over to local authorities.

They’re not going to allow anyone with an active felony warrant in NCIC to leave the country and say we’ll just get you if you return to the U.S.

[YoshidaYui]

68. FUCK THE TRUMP ADMINSITATION AND THEIR NAZI HANDLERS

I AM OOKING AT YOU STEPHEN MILLER,.

[Demovictory9]

70. Omg