Jacksonville man files trademark for name ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ says it’s a way to fight against ‘hate merch’; News4Jax, July 18, 2025

Khalil Maycock , News4Jax; Jacksonville man files trademark for name ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ says it’s a way to fight against ‘hate merch’

"A Jacksonville man filed a trademark Class 28 for the name “Alligator Alcatraz.”

A Class 28 trademark means, if approved, Eric Battle would have the rights to that name for games, toys and novelty items.

This comes after Battle said he felt helpless when he saw the controversial immigration detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” opened at an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades earlier this month.

State and federal officials have touted the detention center on social media and conservative airwaves, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and “guarded” by alligators wearing hats labeled “ICE” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility’s name."