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The Fresno Grizzlies, a minor league baseball team in California, have apologized after a video celebrating Memorial Day appeared to call Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez an “enemy of freedom.” The team played the clip during their doubleheader on the night of May 27. The Grizzlies are the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They play in the Pacific Coast League.
The video, “Memorial Day Tribute- We Are Americans,” showed various patriotic clips over a speech by President Ronald Reagan. When Reagan pivots to bring up “enemies of freedom,” the video showed images of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, anti-fascist protesters holding signs that say “NO TRUMP NO KKK,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who died in 2016. The full quote from Reagan is, “As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people.”
You can watch the full video, that was uploaded on May 21, nearly a week before it was shown in Fresno, here:
An apology from the team read, “We are aware of the problem with the Memorial Day tribute video shown in the ballpark between games of Monday’s doubleheader.
A pre-produced video from outside our front office was selected; unfortunately what was supposed to be a moving tribute ended with some misleading and offensive editing, which made a statement that was not our intent and certainly not our opinion.
We apologize to our fans and to our community for the error and for not properly vetting the video. We also apologize to those who have served and are currently serving the country for the undue distraction on such a solemn day. We’re embarrassed we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first. We unconditionally apologize to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez in addition to those we hurt.
It was a mistake and we will ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.”
We’re embarrassed we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first. We unconditionally apologize to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) in addition to our fans, community and those we hurt. It was a mistake and we will ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.
At the time writing, there has been no comment from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez regarding the video. The video also showed U.S. President Donald Trump as well as a space shuttle launch.
Speaking to USA Today, a spokesperson for the Grizzlies, Paul Braverman, said that the employee who selected the video has been identified. Braverman described that employee as being “remorseful” and said that the team will no longer rebroadcast videos from YouTube.
According to Politico, in November 2016, 49.4 percent of voters in Fresno County opted for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while 45.5 went for winner Donald Trump.
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