New England Patriots fan Dale Mooney, 53, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, died on Sunday after a fight at Gillette Stadium during Sunday’s game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts is investigating the incident.
According to one witness, a man wearing a Dolphins jersey and Mooney were verbally taunting each other during the game, and late in the game the two men got into a scuffle. The incident took place in the upper tier 308/309 section of the stadium.
Was The Fight Over A Football Game?
Another witness, Joseph Kilmartin, described the alleged attack by a Miami Dolphins fan.
“They started tussling around for a few minutes,” Kilmartin told WCVB. “At one point another Dolphins fan walked over. He punched him three times, and the man just went out. It was pretty hard to watch.”
Local cops responded to calls for medical aid in the section at 10:57 p.m. local time Sunday. Cellphone video shows EMTs scrambling to revive someone who is out of the frame shot on the ground.
There is also video that shows security trying to break up a scuffle, and medics administering CPR afterward.
Mooney has been a season ticket holder for the Patriots for three years and his wife Lisa is devastated by the event.
“I just feel numb; I can’t even believe this is for real,” Lisa Mooney told WCVB. “I don’t understand why people have to go to that extreme. Why can’t it just be fun? That’s all it’s supposed to be, just a fun family event.”
The DA’s office said an autopsy of Mooney’s body will be forthcoming in a few days, and the investigation will follow its usual protocol. No charges have been filed, and no arrests have been made as of Monday.
A tragic event that was completely unnecessary.
Violence Is In America’s DNA
But violence is baked into the fabric of American culture. So many people see it as justifiable in almost any circumstance.
A professional sporting event is anything but a family-fun event. Between the amount of alcohol consumed before, during and after games; bravado and chest thumping; the potential consumption of other illicit substances; and the mob mentality that sports creates, it’s shocking this doesn’t happen more frequently.
This type of violence isn’t limited to professional sporting events. We see fights at the collegiate, high-school and little-league levels.
It’s worth noting that many of the spectators around the incident pulled out their phones to record what happened. But not enough people thought to work together to deescalate the situation and potentially prevent this tragedy.
