In a wild turn of events, a Pittsburgh Pirates stadium usher has been suspended after video captures him getting into a physical confrontation with fans and then using his belt to whip a fan during a fistfight at PNC Park on Sunday.
The video shows the Black usher and white fan standing face-to-face exchanging words and the situation continues to escalate in a heated argument before the staffer gets off some punches that lands on the fan’s face.
Footage of the video was posted on social media. The original poster deleted it, but by then, it had made the social media rounds. This kind of commentary went back and forth on a post by Daily Loud of the video, which has reached 13M views.
Social Media Divided Along Racial Lines Following Fight Between Baseball Fan and Usher at PNC Park
This bizarre incident between the usher and the fan, stoked the emotions of the typical social media troublemakers, who turned the isolated confrontation between the men, a referendum on race relations in America.
“The black guy should be arrested for assault. The other guy did nothing then the usher lost all control and threw the first punch. The white guy spit well after he was assaulted,” said one fan, making sure to keep race in the forefront of the confrontation.
“He was never spit on,” said another netizen. “When you do these race bait videos, you shouldn’t lie about what happens.”
“Oh wow another Black getting overly emotional so he’s gunna huwt yewwww poor baby his feelys are hurt,” said another fan using baby words to mock the actions of the usher.
Black fans on social media struck back with their own commentary.
“The black guy is bad the white guys is good! That’s literally all your racist behind is saying!.” wrote one frustrated baseball fan, pointing out the familiar theme in other posts by non-Black people.
“You people are blind istg,” said @easymoneydlo. “If the usher was white this wouldn’t be the same comment section.”
“Excellent commentary from the White Supremacy Faction, you represented well !! we can all see the actual video,” added another fan on X, calling out hypocrisy in the comments.
“Loser. The Black Man should be given a medal for this,” demanded another fan.
There seemed to be another man standing next to the fan and eventually a woman showed up wearing Pirates gear, who was talking to the men as if she knew them. Other fans eventually came to break up the fight, but it only stopped temporarily as both the usher and the man continued to exchange words.
Was Game-Day Employee Really Defending Woman?
That’s when the fan took it to a next level and appeared to spit on the usher, who then takes off his belt and commences to whip the fan with it multiple times. Eventually the situation subsided.
The Pirates claim that the game-day employee intercede on behalf of a female worker who was getting verbally assaulted by the two men.
“Following the conclusion of yesterday’s game, as the final few fans were exiting the ballpark, there was a verbal altercation between two male guests and a female food and beverage employee. At that time, the ballpark game-day employee seen in the video attempted to intervene on her behalf,” Pirates senior vice president of communications Brian Warecki told Fox News.
“We are aware of the unfortunate incident that occurred following the conclusion of yesterday’s game between a PNC Park game-day employee and a guest. The employee’s behavior was entirely unacceptable, and he was immediately suspended. This incident is currently under further investigation.”
Kavan Markwood Falls 21-Feet To Warning Track at PNC Park
The Pirates have had some unfavorable press at PNC park of late.
This incident comes just days after 20-year-old fan Kavan Markwood, a college football player, suffered a broken neck and clavicle, falling 21-feet to the warning track during a Pirates-Cubs game at PNC Park.
The Pirates might be 12-25 and in last place in the NL Central Division, but the organization has stolen the social media conversation over the past few days.
Game-Day Employee Suspended, No Charges Filed
The game day employee was suspended for his role in the fight, which happened during Sunday’s game at PNC Park, but according to police no files have been charged so far.
Pittsburgh Stadium Independent Employees Union prez, Mike Kelly, said even though the game day employee isn’t part of the union, it’s possible for any worker in the stadium to encounter obnoxious or unruly fans. Overall, says Kelly, the Pirates do an “excellent job” of training employees on how to handle these types of situations.
Not sure if this incident reflects that, but the video itself is a classic and has social media in a frenzy. Maybe fans will start GoFundme’s for both men and they can retire.
