Fan Ejected From Yankee Stadium For Bathroom Break

Fan Ejected From Yankee Stadium For Bathroom Break
Man Says Cops Kicked Him Out When He Tried To Go To Men's Room During 'God Bless America'

NEW YORK (CBS) ― A Queens man is considering legal action against the New York Yankees after he was ejected from Tuesday night's contest against the Boston Red Sox for trying to use the restroom during the playing of "God Bless America."

During the patriotic 7th inning stretch at Yankee Stadium, nature called on Bradford Campeau-Laurion. When he tried to leave his seat during the traditional singing of God Bless America, however, he says he was stopped by a NYPD officer who said he'd have to wait until the song was done.

"I then said to him, 'I don't care about God Bless America. I just need to use the bathroom.' As soon as I said that, he immediately pinned my arm behind my back," Campeau-Laurion told CBS 2.

The 29-year-old says two officers pinned both of his arms behind his back and ejected him from the stadium.

"He shoved me out the front gate and told me get out of their country if I didn't like it," he said.

Campeau-Laurion says he didn't know theYankees had a rule restricting movement in the stands during the playing of God Bless America. The rule is enforced by ushers, stadium security and the NYPD.

The New York Civil Liberties Union says, however, that New York's finest crossed the line.

"Because they are enforcing a rule of that imposes political correctness through refusing to let somebody go to bathroom while a patriotic song is playing, that violates Constitutional rights," said Donna Lieberman, a spokesperson for the NYCLU.

The Yankees say it's now a police matter.

The NYPD told CBS 2 a different version of the story, however, saying in a statement:

"The officers observed a male standing on his seat, cursing, using inappropriate language and acting in a disorderly manner while reeking of alcohol, and decided to eject him rather than subject others to his offensive behavior.

Campeau-Laurion was at the game with a Yankees season ticket holder who couldn't believe the cops allegations.

"That's ridiculous," said the fan, who asked not to be identified. "That's completely false."

Campeau-Laurion says he did have two beers at the game. He doesn't know if he'll seek legal action, but he's discussing his options with the NYCLU.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

There's a video here

Yet another reason why I don't stand for this song and why I can't stand New York/ the Yankees. Standing for some stupid song does not make you a patriot just like going to church once a week doesn't make you a good person.

catbox_9 wrote:

"I then said to him, 'I don't care about God Bless America'.

:haha:

It happened again...

So, Yankee Stadium Takes This No Moving During "God Bless America"-Thing Rather Seriously

Remember a little more than a year ago when George Steinbrenner, inflated with patriotic fervor, imposed a laughable rule that instructed security officials to ban anyone from "excessive movement" during the 7th inning rendition of "God Bless America." Granted, most New Yorkers seemingly abide by it, but sometimes the system must be tested by one man's agnosticism and patriotic indifference. Oh, and he had to piss.

Meet Bradford Campeau-Laurion, a 29-year-old man from Astoria, Queens, and a director of web production for a "major website" who made the unfortunate decision to blatantly disregard "God Bless America" and hit the head. He was dealt with swiftly and aggressively by Steinbrenner's Red, White, And Blue Muscle. I left a message with Yankees media relations for their comments on this, but it's probably safe to assume that they'll only react to this if Brad here makes a colossal stink over it.

Brad's detailed, irate, email is after the jump.

Deadspin Editors,

I attempted to get up to use the restroom, rather urgently, during the 7th inning stretch as God Bless America was beginning. As I attempted to walk down the aisle and exit my section into the tunnel, I was stopped by a police officer. He informed me that I had to wait until the song was over. I responded that I had to use the restroom and that I did not care about God Bless America.

As soon as the latter came out of my mouth, my right arm was twisted violenty behind my back and I was informed that I was being escorted out of the stadium. A second officer then joined in and twisted my left arm, also in an excessively forceful manner, behind my back. I informed them they were violating my First Amendment rights and that I had done nothing wrong, with no response from them.

I was sitting in the Tier Level, and of course this is the highest level of the stadium and I was escorted in this painful manner down the entire length of the stadium. About halfway down, I informed them that they were hurting me, repeated that I had done nothing wrong, and that I was not resisting nor talking back to them. One of them said something to the effect that if I continued to speak, he would find a way to hurt me more.

When we reached the exit of the stadium, they confiscated my ticket and the first officer shoved me through the turnstiles, saying "Get the hell out of my country if you don't like it."

Nowhere on the Yankee Stadium ticket policy nor on any posted sign does it say that forced patriotism is a required element to attend a baseball game. Nowhere in the laws of this country would that begin to be defensible.

Furthermore, when the two officers returned to their section, Steve who was still in the stadium overhead one of the officers say "We got to watch ourselves. One day we're really gonna get in trouble." They were also spreading rumors with a fan with whom they were friendly that I had said "This country sucks."

I do not believe in God, nor am in support of this country to a degree of patriotic fanaticism. The fact that I wanted to use the restroom instead of standing through God Bless America should not be grounds for a forcible ejection from a baseball game.

I spoke with Brad on the phone and he seems like a reasonable enough man, albeit one with a little bit of an anarchist bent (and, yes, he's a Red Sox fan) but he didn't sound like the type of guy to either embellish the incident in his favor or make it up. We had a quick e-mail q-and-a just to clarify a few things:

DS: Did you feel like you had gave security more reason than normal to act aggressively toward you?

No, I did not. Regardless of what I said, I did not act in a threatening manner, nor step toward the officer in a threatening manner. I just made my statement and attempted to continue to walk into the tunnel toward the restroom. I was given no opportunity to explain myself further, nor any explanation from the officer before my arm was being pinned behind my back.

DS: Were you aware of the "no movement" policy before you attempted to go to the bathroom?

I was not aware. People did not seem to be moving at the time, but I thought it was more a function of the fact that a lot of people at the stadium are rabid patriots rather than an actual policy.

DS: How many Yankees games have you attended and have you ever gotten up to go to the bathroom before?

I have probably attended an average of 8-10 Yankee games per year over the last 8 years. I have used the restroom countless times, though I do not recall ever trying to do so at the exact moment I did last night.


DS: Are you planning on suing Yankee stadium or do you just want them to eliminate the stupid policy?

I have contacted Normal Siegel (public advocate - http://normansiegel.com/) and the New York chapter of the ACLU. I have not discussed my options with them and I don't know my long term plans at this time. I want people to be aware of the forced patriotism that is happening here, a clear violation of First Amendment rights and something that should be kept wholly separate from attending a baseball game. To my knowledge, Yankee Stadium is the only stadium in the major leagues with this policy, let alone still playing God Bless America in the 7th inning stretch.

UPDATE: So, where did you end up going to the bathroom?

Ended up just getting on the train and holding it until I got to my girlfriend's place on 90th and Lex. Probably about another 45 minutes.

Pictures from Yankee Stadium...

Isn't it a little ironic that they are getting rid of the freedom that this song promotes? Only the Yankees would be arrogant enough to have such a policy and only the Yankees would be able to get away with it.

Why do they have to sing God Bless America for every Yankees Home Game?

gs78 wrote:

Why do they have to sing God Bless America for every Yankees Home Game?

Because New Yorkers are more patriotic than everyone else

Now that I think about it, if God Bless America doesn't play 24 hours a day in your house, you're a terrorist and should be executed without trial

I wonder if it will be the same in the new stadium?

I dont see the big deal about it, I mean yeah its a patriotic song, but to listen to it every time your at a home game there, gosh the players must get annoyed sometimes.

I like" Take me out to the ballgame" better

They sing the national anthem before every game


That is enough!

gs78 wrote:

They sing the national anthem before every game


That is enough!

Too much actually - especially in places like New York, LA, SF, etc. There are lots of foreign tourists in those countries and they shouldn't be forced to care about our anthem. Every game I've ever been to where O Canada was played people talk and laugh throughout the song - they'd probably be even less sympathetic if God Save the Queen or some other European anthem was played. If these people don't stand for the anthem they'll ridiculed and if they're non-white people will assume they're terrorists.

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

They sing the national anthem before every game


That is enough!

Too much actually - especially in places like New York, LA, SF, etc. There are lots of foreign tourists in those countries and they shouldn't be forced to care about our anthem. Every game I've ever been to where O Canada was played people talk and laugh throughout the song - they'd probably be even less sympathetic if God Save the Queen or some other European anthem was played. If these people don't stand for the anthem they'll ridiculed and if they're non-white people will assume they're terrorists.

Fans in Detroit stand and respect the Canadian National Anthem

gs78 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

They sing the national anthem before every game


That is enough!

Too much actually - especially in places like New York, LA, SF, etc. There are lots of foreign tourists in those countries and they shouldn't be forced to care about our anthem. Every game I've ever been to where O Canada was played people talk and laugh throughout the song - they'd probably be even less sympathetic if God Save the Queen or some other European anthem was played. If these people don't stand for the anthem they'll ridiculed and if they're non-white people will assume they're terrorists.

Fans in Detroit stand and respect the Canadian National Anthem

There's probably a lot of Canadians in attendance when the Blue Jays are in town though. I'll bet if it was Tigers-Rays they'd be less respectful if they played that song for some reason.

Then again, Angelinos aren't the most polite bunch of people you'll meet :puke2:

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

They sing the national anthem before every game


That is enough!

Too much actually - especially in places like New York, LA, SF, etc. There are lots of foreign tourists in those countries and they shouldn't be forced to care about our anthem. Every game I've ever been to where O Canada was played people talk and laugh throughout the song - they'd probably be even less sympathetic if God Save the Queen or some other European anthem was played. If these people don't stand for the anthem they'll ridiculed and if they're non-white people will assume they're terrorists.

Fans in Detroit stand and respect the Canadian National Anthem

There's probably a lot of Canadians in attendance when the Blue Jays are in town though. I'll bet if it was Tigers-Rays they'd be less respectful if they played that song for some reason.

Then again, Angelinos aren't the most polite bunch of people you'll meet :puke2:

There are a lot of Tigers fans that live in Windsor and in Ontario that attend games at Comerica

Fan sues NYC, Yankees over ejection from stadium

NEW YORK -- A baseball fan says he was ejected from Yankee Stadium for leaving his seat to use the bathroom while "God Bless America" played.

Bradford Campeau-Laurion filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against New York City and the Yankees.

The lawsuit contends he was made a victim of political and religious discrimination on Aug. 26.

It says two police officers who ejected him were enforcing a Yankees policy that keeps spectators in their seats during the song.

A spokeswoman says the city law office has no immediate comment. A Yankees representative did not immediately return a call.

-----



I hope he wins millions

catbox_9 wrote:

Fan sues NYC, Yankees over ejection from stadium

NEW YORK -- A baseball fan says he was ejected from Yankee Stadium for leaving his seat to use the bathroom while "God Bless America" played.

Bradford Campeau-Laurion filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against New York City and the Yankees.

The lawsuit contends he was made a victim of political and religious discrimination on Aug. 26.

It says two police officers who ejected him were enforcing a Yankees policy that keeps spectators in their seats during the song.

A spokeswoman says the city law office has no immediate comment. A Yankees representative did not immediately return a call.

-----



I hope he wins millions

I don't


Even though the Yankees policy is total Bullshit

Why should Yankees Fans have to pay [ You know any lawsuit expense that is paid out by Stienbrenner and company will be passed down to Yankees Fans in the form of even higher ticket prices [ already 72$ for average ticket at the stadium] and higher prices inside Yankee Stadium

At this pint ($72 per ticket) the real fans can't go anyways. Most of the people going (especially with decent seats) are rich anyways so what do they care?

catbox_9 wrote:

At this pint ($72 per ticket) the real fans can't go anyways. Most of the people going (especially with decent seats) are rich anyways so what do they care?

Probably be 172$ a ticket if this guy gets his millions of dollars

The guy won't win millions anyways so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Hopefully the following happens:
1) The Yankees eliminate this policy to avoid further litigation
2) The guy gets his money back from the game
3) The guy gets at least a few thousand dollars
4) The guy's lawyer doesn't make millions since he didn't do anything

I hope he wins.

I hope he does too, that whole thing was stupid.

In this type of suite he only needs 3/4 of the jurors to side with him so I'd say he's got a good chance.

The 7th inning stretch should be about Take Me Out to the Ballgame and nothing else. While it's disrespectful not to stay in your seat for that very stupid song, people should be allowed to.

They are trying to keep 9/11 alive in some twisted way...

I understand that, but forcing it upon people is not how to do it. Make them WANT to stay in their seats for it, don't force them. You can't make someone be respectful. You just can't.

Exactly...twisted way