Older man slaps fan at MLB game for not standing up for national anthem
A fan interaction that occurred during the Chicago Cubs-Minnesota Twins series has gone viral.
The clip, which has now amassed over two million views on Instagram, shows the incident which took place during a rendition of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’.
The clip shows an older Cubs fan exchanging words with the young man, who was seated during the national anthem.
The older man barked at him to get up, but the youngster didn’t flinch.
The olden gent would then lean in and say something inaudible to the man before striking him in the back of the head.
Nearby spectators turned and reacted to the violence, with one fan in front clearly objecting to the action.
The man on the receiving end of the smack stood up quickly and remained upright for the rest of the anthem, as more objections towards the older man’s actions were heard.
The video sparked a debate in the comments, with some cheering the older man’s reaction, and others condemning the slap.
“He could have been from abroad, I wouldn’t disrespect another national anthem, but there is no duty to stand, not need for the slap,” one commented.
“You should be standing for any anthem of any country out of respect, the old man taught him some manners with the slap,” a second added.
“To slap him is not okay. I can’t believe no other fan stepped up. I would have in a minute. You can not like what the kid was doing, but that’s no right to smack him,” a third questioned the older man.
“I have so much respect for the older man’s actions, respect the people that died for your existence,” a fourth commented.
“Sorry, not cool. I love this country and I would stand, as I always do, but you don’t put your hands on other people,” a fifth said.
Chicago police told TMZ that they were aware of the video, and no report has been filed, leaving the next steps unknown.
Cubs smack Twins but still trail in division
On the field, it would be the Cubs doing the slapping, defeating the Twins by a score of 10-1.
A dominant pitching performance from Shota Imanaga and four RBI’s from Nico Hoerner secured the victory.
Craig Counsell’s men currently sit seven-games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the race for the National League Central division.
They do, however, hold a 4.5 game lead in the NL Wild Card race, where three teams will eventually advance to the playoffs.
The top two division winners with the best records each receive buys to the Division Series – currently the Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The other four teams in each league will play a best-of-three Wild Card series, with the higher seed hosting all three games.
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