Blaming the security guard.
We’re just two months out from the election, so it shouldn’t really be a surprise to see more and more folks wearing gear supporting their favorite candidate.
And rather than wearing her team’s gear, one Arizona Cardinals fan decided to wear a hat supporting GOP nominee and former President Donald Trump to the team’s home opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
According to 12News, Susan Rosener and her husband were going through security when a female security guard told her that she wouldn’t be able to wear her black “Make America Great Again” hat into State Farm Stadium. Rosener says she was told that the MAGA hat was on the stadium’s list of prohibited items:
“She’s like, ‘No political hats or shirts.’…
And I said, ‘That doesn’t make sense to me.’ And she goes, ‘I said, Take your hat off.'”
Rosener was forced to throw away her hat to get into the stadium, a move she now says she regrets:
“In retrospect, I wish I would have stood my ground a little bit, but I wasn’t sure what the repercussions would be, and my husband would kill me if I did something with the season tickets or that jeopardizes them somehow.”
She then went to guest services, and pointed out to them that the stadium rules do not, in fact, ban political clothing. But they too told her that MAGA hats are prohibited inside the stadium:
“I think she had heard the whole altercation before. She’s like, ‘Nope, nope, can’t wear it.'”
The Arizona Cardinals did not allow a fan into the game on Sunday wearing a Make American Great Again Hat.
The only way the fan was allowed in was by throwing her hat away.
The Cardinals have not commented on this yet. MAGA hat is not listed on prohibited items.
Developing. pic.twitter.com/POArjeEtQu
— 🌵 Mr. Az (@MrAzSports) September 16, 2024
Well as it turns out, that’s not true.
The Cardinals issued a statement clarifying that the hat should have been allowed in the stadium, and blaming the mistake on a security guard provided by a third-party contractor. The organization also says they’re working to ensure that everybody is educated on their policy, and plan on reaching out to Rosener to apologize for the confusion:
“In an isolated incident at Sunday’s game, a stadium security member misunderstood a policy on prohibited items. Like most venues, “signage, posters, flags, or displays that are….political in nature” are not permitted.
However, that did not apply in this instance. Moving forward we will work to provide clarity to all stadium personnel in these situations. We have also reached out to the individual involved to communicate that their experience was not consistent with our policies and practices and to apologize for that.”
Of course Rosener feels that she was singled out because it was a MAGA hat – and let’s be honest, she probably wouldn’t have had the same experience if she were wearing a Kamala hat. But hopefully the Cardinals take care of the problem so that it’s not an issue going forward.
Arizona Cardinals security made a woman throw away her MAGA hat in order to get into the stadium on Sunday…
The Cardinals were quick to backtrack on this and apologize… because they know what an NFL boycott does for their business…
She shouldn't have complied. pic.twitter.com/Xzkv5JgR2o
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) September 18, 2024
