Cubs identify, ban fan who flashed 'offensive hand gesture' during broadcast
The Chicago Cubs say they have identified and will no longer permit the fan who flashed an alleged white power symbol during Tuesday's game broadcast to enter Wrigley Field and other ticketed areas effective immediately.
In a statement released Wednesday, Cubs executive Crane Kenney says the team has concluded its investigation into the matter. The club is now in the process of notifying the fan of his ban after they determined he violated the team’s Guest Code of Conduct.
Via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian:
A follow-up from Cubs on the incident from Tuesday night... pic.twitter.com/bBbL3fY0dt
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) May 8, 2019
The hand symbol was made while NBC Sports Chicago reporter and former major league outfielder Doug Glanville was reporting from the camera well next to the Cubs dugout.
The gesture is clearly seen in the image below.
The gesture’s controversial meaning
Deciphering the context in which the symbol was being used isn't easy. It never had white power connections until 2017, when members from the alt-right used it to trick people into thinking that it did. In the brief time since, alt-right groups have successfully campaigned to have the gesture introduced and accepted as a symbol of white power.
While the gesture has also been used as part of the “circle game” and as a gesture that represents everything being "A-OK," Kenney said during a Wednesday appearance on 670 The Score in Chicago that team officials met and decided it was more likely than not that the gesture was used in a “racist way.”
From the Cubs perspective, it’s case closed. But this might not be the last we hear of this story.
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