For any fan who believes paying for a ticket grants you the right to say whatever you want at a sporting event, this lawsuit is for you.
Two Giants fans have alleged that their First Amendment rights were violated at a 2017 game at Levi Stadium after police at the San Francisco 49ers’ home park busted them for cursing at and flipping off players, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Giants supporters and brothers Kyle and Patrick Flynn filed the suit last week in San Jose, claiming cops also used excessive force against them, with Kyle Flynn charging he was pushed over a railing and stunned with a Taser.
The suit states that the incident occurred on Nov. 12, 2017, at a game between Big Blue and the Niners, won by San Francisco, 31-21. The Flynns, who were seated close to the field, reportedly shouted “You f–king suck” and flipped off members of the Giants, who were losing the game.
They reportedly complied with an order from a Santa Clara police officer named Nicholas Cusimano to cease yelling profanities, but the Flynns were ejected after repeating those offenses later in the game.
According to the lawsuit, Kyle Flynn had to be forcibly removed from his seat, alleging he was grabbed and choked by officers and was “left in [a] restraint device” known as a WRAP “for at least 30 to 40 minutes.”
Patrick Flynn also alleged that an officer hit his left hand with a baton to remove it from a railing and that he later fell approximately 10 feet to the field, where he allegedly was tased. A third person, Lauren Alcarez, also was detained by police during the incident.
Kyle Flynn initially was charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, but the Santa Clara DA’s Office later dismissed the case “in the interests of justice and for insufficiency of the evidence,” the lawsuit states. The suit also claims the officers used “excessive force” and “acted out of anger” over the brothers’ “exercise of their protected First Amendment rights.”