A viral video prompts threats and a slew of low customer ratings against U.S. Tent Rental.
By Mason Chambless
Original Air Date: July 2, 2025
Host: Last week, a video surfaced online, tying a Sarasota company to the building of the “Alligator Alcatraz”. It prompted a slew of low customer ratings, threats, and a picket at the offices of U.S. Tent Rental on Tuesday. The company describes its involvement with the controversial immigrant detention camp as marginal and “humanitarian.” Mason Chambless reports.
A still from the Florida Valkyries’ TikTok video decrying U.S. Tent Rental’s involvement in the construction of Alligator Alcatraz.
Speaker: …on the new facility they’re calling Alligator Alcatraz. My question is, who is building this facility? The first people we’ve uncovered are Logistic Events Corp, based out of Miami. Another company we found is a company called U.S. Tent Rental. They’re based out of Sarasota. These two companies are providing resources to help build this facility if not helping build it themselves.
Mason Chambless: This is the soundtrack of a video which was posted last week by Florida Valkyries on TikTok. It has accumulated over 1.5 million views. In it, U.S. Tent Rental is alleged to be involved in the building of the detention site, based on company trucks seen at the site.
US Tent Rental has provided services for COVID testing during the pandemic and emergency responders after disasters.
U.S. Tent Rental has grown into one of the area’s largest events companies, offering wedding and banquet services. It also offered vaccine and testing staging during the pandemic. It has provided post-disaster services for emergency workers. But its involvement with the “Alligator Alcatraz” triggered a firestorm.
Since the initial posting of the TikTok video, U.S. Tent Rental has been subject to online protests and threats.
After many one-star reviews were given to the company on Yelp, the website blocked users from posting any further reviews. The company’s social media accounts have either become private or disappeared completely after an influx of negative comments on their posts. The company’s phone line has moved to voicemail-only.
The Herald-Tribune reports that employees of the company are also being subject to doxxing and death threats.
The same report quotes an anonymous employee saying that the company has unfairly become a target of protesters’ wrath. The only thing they have been doing is supplying workers with meals as a subcontractor. The report also quoted an anonymous employee saying that “if we have to ask every client about their political standpoint or their views on different issues, we’ll never be in business.” The company did not have any plans to continue supplying food once detainees begin to arrive. A salesperson for the company told the Herald Tribune that the company provided workers meals and an air conditioned area, calling the service “humanitarian.”
Florida Valkyries graphic for a June 22 protest against “Alligator Alcatraz.”
In a WhatsApp group run by immigrant advocates in the area to keep track of ICE movements and other immigration issues, participants commented that U.S. Tent Rental hires many immigrant workers. Someone posted a video showing a group of immigrants working on a project for the company. Some in the group are calling for a boycott of the company, although no boycott has yet been organized.
We reached out to U.S. Tent Rental. We were contacted by a public relations representative for the company who accepted written questions that’d be passed on for comment. They were unable to respond before the next-day deadline.
The Valkyries are dedicated to “Fighting for lasting change through direct action, education, and mobilization!” The group only has protester and newsreel footage as evidence at this point.
When asked if they had more information regarding the employment of U.S. Tent Rental in building the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detainment site, Florida Valkyries wrote that they are working on a document tracking companies working on the site, including U.S. Tent Rental. The Florida Accountability website keeps track of state contracting.
Reporting for WSLR News, Mason Chambless.
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