CHICAGO, IL — A video of a fan at a recent Chicago Cubs game appearing to slap another man for not standing for the national anthem has sparked a debate online.
The video was posted to Instagram over the weekend and shows a young man sitting in his seat in front of an older man while performers sang the national anthem. The older man appears to tell the younger man to stand several times before slapping him on the back of the head.
The younger fan then stands up for the remainder of the song.
The Cubs issued a statement about the incident, saying security officers did speak to the young fan. According to a team spokesperson, the young man told security the matter had been "resolved," and he didn't want to take further action.
"The National Anthem is an important tradition at Chicago Cubs games," the spokesperson said. "While we respect the rights of individuals to decide for themselves, we encourage every fan to stand, if they are able, and to remove their caps while the anthem is being played. At the same time, the safety and security of our fans is our top priority. We expect all guests to treat one another with respect and to follow our Fan Code of Conduct, which prohibits physical confrontations and threatening behavior. Our security team spoke with the fan who had been struck. He indicated that the matter had been resolved, he did not want to have anyone ejected from the ballpark or any further action taken, and we respected his wishes."
In the comments of the video, many people were critical of the idea of forcing someone to stand for the national anthem and how that relates to individual freedom.
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