Cubs ban fan who made racist hand gesture
Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein says the team has identified and banned the fan who made a racist hand gesture during Tuesday's broadcast, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
The fan displayed an upside-down 'OK' sign - commonly associated with white supremacy - while NBC Sports Chicago's Doug Glanville was reporting on the air as the Cubs hosted the Miami Marlins.
Am I seeing things or is this jack wagon behind Glanville flashing the white supremacy sign? @SarahSpain @BleacherNation pic.twitter.com/6p7d79vIVR
— Chad Rehan (@ChadRehan) May 8, 2019
Epstein, who said the fan will not be permitted to enter Wrigley Field again, added that it "gave me shivers to watch," according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN.
"Such ignorant and repulsive behavior is not tolerated at Wrigley Field," Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said in a statement Wednesday. "We are reviewing the incident thoroughly because no one should be subjected to this type of offensive behavior. Any derogatory conduct should be reported immediately to our ballpark staff. Any individual behaving in this manner will not only be removed from the ballpark, but will be permanently banned from Wrigley Field."
Kenney later explained that team officials viewed the video and agreed the gesture in question was being used in a manner that was racist, and not in any other context.
"We reached the conclusion that it's more likely than not that this person was using that hand signal as a racist way of interfering with everyone's enjoyment of the game," Kenney said during an interview with Bernstein & McKnight on 670 The Score.
Glanville, who spent parts of three seasons with the Cubs as a player, said he was made aware of what happened almost immediately after the incident took place.
"I applaud the responsiveness of both the Chicago Cubs organization and NBC Sports in investigating this matter," Glanville wrote on Twitter. "They have reached out to me and are supportive of my role in the broadcast and continue to have a desire to uphold an inclusive environment at Wrigley Field. They have displayed sensitivity as to how the implications of this would affect me as a person of color.
"I am supporting their efforts in fully investigating the matter and I will comment further once the investigation has run its course."