Booted for Unpatriotic Bathroom Trip, Yanks Fan Sues

Suit alleges cops chucked man from stadium for God Bless America trip
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 16, 2009 6:41 AM CDT
Booted for Unpatriotic Bathroom Trip, Yanks Fan Sues
A Yankees fan says police prevented him using the restroom during the playing of "God Bless America" and chucked him out when he complained.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

A fan manhandled out of Yankee Stadium for trying to go to the restroom while God Bless America played is suing the NYPD, the Yankees, and the city, Gawker reports. Bradford Campeau-Laurion—whose suit is backed by the New York Civil Liberties Union—charges that two cops, believed to be off-duty and working security at the August 2008 game, stopped him in the aisle during the 7th-inning stretch and roughly chucked him out after he told them he needed to take a leak and didn't care about the song.

The encounter ended with the cops telling Campeau-Laurion, who says he is the victim of religious and political discrimination, to leave the country if he didn't like it, according to court papers. The police dispute Campeau-Laurion's account of events, saying he was ejected for disorderly conduct and swearing while reeking of alcohol.
(More New York Yankees stories.)

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