Accusations flew on social media after some claimed a baseball fan attending the Colorado Rockies vs. Miami Marlins game on Sunday had shouted the N-word while Marlins's Lewis Brison was up to bat.
The shouting could be heard when Brison was at home plate, prompting many verified and unverified accounts on Twitter to share the video clip, spurred by journalists posting the video. Clips of the incident on Twitter in some cases got millions of views.
Some fan was screaming “Nigger” as loud as he could at Miami Marlins player Lewis Brinson at Coors Field pic.twitter.com/EAprfMhZbe
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 8, 2021
Racism doesn't exist, they say. It's a figment of the imagination. This clip shows you why these claims are lies.
— Emery Glover (@EmeryGlover17) August 9, 2021
And put him in jail without the right to ever attend a sporting event, let alone anything else. https://t.co/cZIXfGgQK5
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 9, 2021
Yeah, that's a hate crime. You can arrest him. https://t.co/7lCrjAxqAO
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) August 9, 2021
Can we just have a big long conversation about this today? It's 2021. How is this still happening at a major league ballpark? Utterly disgusting. https://t.co/ZNW4RLguhu
— Alicia de Artola (@PenguinOfTroy) August 8, 2021
Shouting the N-word at a game? Where is the @Rockies statement on how they apprehended the racist and what they did to him? Where is @mlb’s investigation?
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 8, 2021
This is a private business and they are responsible for the conduct of their patrons.
pic.twitter.com/LEeJVLmpVz
There was some racist person screaming the N word at the top of his lungs at Brinson while he was at the plate. Came through on TV clearly. Terrible. Rockies need to find this bastard and do bad things to him.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) August 8, 2021
The Miami outfielder was called n***** incessantly by a Rockies fan. https://t.co/JSPqugvPQU
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 8, 2021
Further examination of the video and comments by the fan in question showed the man was being falsely accused of using the racial slur. The man was trying to catch the attention of the Rockies mascot, Dinger, because he wanted to get a family photo.
The video shows the man waving to the mascot and was not looking at Brison when he shouted Dinger.
The investigation by the Rockies also revealed no one around the man heard the N-word. Unsurprisingly, the man is afraid of what would happen if people found out his identity because now many wrongly believe he is a racist.
Here's the video by the way. I've highlighted both the fan and Dinger in the the first clip, then zoomed in on the fan in the second clip. And Dinger in the third. pic.twitter.com/ul14jQjavx
— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) August 9, 2021
The Rockies say they worked with AT&T Sportsnet, the local broadcaster, to identify where the microphone that picked up the comment was.
— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) August 9, 2021
He's pretty devastated that people heard him the wrong way. He insists, and the video seems to back it up, that he was trying to get the mascot's attention. He said he shouted a few times, then the game ended and Dinger was on the field.
— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) August 9, 2021