The Texas Rangers have identified the fan who targeted a Hispanic family with harassment and issued him an indefinite ban with no further statement on the situation, reports the Dallas Morning News.
The incident began on Aug. 3 when Jessica Romero wrote about the incident in a Facebook post and garnered national attention to the story. Details from the original PopCulture.com report outline the incident, that has been shared by thousands of users and viewed more than 138,000 times.
Videos by PopCulture.com
As previously reported, Romero writes that the man sitting behind her family said: “let me see how I can f— up their pic” as the family was taking a traditional pre-game photo.
The day got worse for the family, as the man in question flashed an inappropriate gesture as they were taking the photo, and then began loudly complaining about the Hispanic families sitting in front of and behind him.
“During the 2nd inning, the little boy behind him, who looked to be about Nomar’s age, kicked the back of his chair. I had to hear him complain about all the illegal immigrants that were surrounding him at the game,” Romero wrote in the post. “That he should kick little Speedy Gonzalez all the way back to Mexico for kicking his seat. That Trump needs to hurry and build the wall and send all these illegals back so they won’t be kicking his seat.”
Not tolerating any more harassment, the family left during the fifth inning. Ramon, Romero’s husband, told The Dallas Morning News that the couple has held 10-game mini-plans for the Rangers for roughly a decade.
After the initial complaint was heard by the Texas Rangers, the club released a statement regarding the situation:
“The Rangers are committed to providing all of our guests with a safe and enjoyable experience and we are truly sorry that this family was subjected to this offensive behavior at Saturday’s game,” the Rangers said in the statement. “There is no place at Globe Life Park in Arlington for this type of conduct to occur. After learning of this incident on Sunday, we have reached out to the Romero family and pledge to make their next trip to Globe Life Park a memorable and enjoyable experience.”
The tense situation began when the family was not sitting in their regular section due to making last-minute plans to attend the game on Saturday. The Romero’s 6-year-old son, Nomar, wanted a Rusty Greer bobblehead and to spend some time in the children’s play area.
It is unknown if the club will release the name of the banned offender.
