A transgender fan of the New York Knicks basketball team was tracked over a two-year period using sophisticated face recognition technology at Madison Square Garden (MSG), according to a lawsuit by a fired former security official who worked there. The woman was later banned from the venue. The suit alleges that Nina Richards (not her real name) became a fixation for the head of security working for James Dolan, the owner of MSG, Radio City Music Hall, and the Sphere, among other venues that use the same surveillance technology. Dolan, scion of former cable TV titan Charles Dolan, also owns the Knicks and the New York Rangers hockey team. Related The lawsuit’s allegation follows news in 2024 that Dolan added the faces of up to 1,500 lawyers involved in litigation against his companies to his facial recognition system at MSG, banning them from the property. Security head John Eversole became aware of Richards in 2021, soon after games resumed at the Garden following the COVID shutdowns, Wired reports. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Described by another security staffer as “a very large transgender woman, being a fan,” Eversole determined that Richards was a threat to players and the team’s image. He ordered her to be added MSG’s facial-recognition database and instructed staffers to perform an open source “work-up” on her, based on the images captured by their cameras and other intelligence gathered by security. Eversole allegedly wanted to keep Richards “away from the players.” Richards was targeted “because of her gender identity,” according to the suit filed by former MSG security staffer Donnie Ingrasselino. Employees who were forced to conduct the surveillance were often uncomfortable, according to another former staffer, since they believed it to be