From Deseret News archives:
Real fans waving Tibetan flags are booted from U. stadium
|
Coker said he and several others, including five Tibetan men, were escorted out of the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium by about 10 officials, including stadium personnel and Real Salt Lake representatives, because they had been waving Tibetan flags and had refused to put them away when the officials told them to do so.
Members of the Chinese National Team stepped off the field and refused to continue playing unless the flags were put away.
A Chinese team official told the fans to take the flags down and pulled down their "6-4" sign that had been hanging over the front-row railing of the stadium, said fan Brandon Hone, who had waved a Taiwanese flag.
When the fans later pulled out the flags again, stadium officials demanded they put them away and threatened to involve police. When Coker refused, he was escorted from the stadium and told that it was because of the flag, he said. Real went on to defeat the Chinese team, 1-0.
"I'm completely disgusted that we can't express ourselves," Coker said. "I got kicked out of a game for waving a flag in the United States of America, and to me, that is just mind-blowing."
Comments
- Move over, Monopoly 4:16 p.m.
- Trains in gardens a hit 4:16 p.m.
- Trailers spoil the movie plots 4:16 p.m.
- Parents should listen to Lambert 4:15 p.m.
- Toys leave little to imagination 4:15 p.m.
- Holiday cards elicit complaints 4:15 p.m.
- New garage functions like a garage 4:15 p.m.
- Family grows poinsettias 4:15 p.m.
- Garden tips and events 4:15 p.m.
- Family-friendly activities calendar 4:14 p.m.
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
- BYU is champion of the state
- Cougars beat Utes in overtime
- Credit Coug defense for win
- Field goals, penalties doomed Utes
- Cougar defense rose to occasion
- Marriage definitions vary widely
- Jones' joy for life remembered
- Banged up Jazz get best of Blazers
- Cave to be sealed with body inside
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
679 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
464 - Thunder rolls by Jazz
136 - BYU is champion of the state
126 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
117 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
115 - Editorial: Poor welcome for Palin
113 - Rivalry Week is highly profane
90 - Hall's legacy measured today
77 - Y. focused on 10-win season
74
I wanted to tell them not to go. I dropped subtle hints. "My money is on...
When I was a kid, I worshipped my grandpa. He was undoubtedly my hero....
just a hatred towards Utah. It's more of a hatred for anything not Mormon and...
Sorry, Utah is not even close to being the fattest state. It's Mississippi....
Secular materialism has no such limits on marriage, beyond what the finite...
That's great Art, I sure am glad that you are against drug enforcement by the...
Instead of going out on a high, Hall chooses to be negative with is broad...
all the Utah Fans who feel offended put "Max Who" in their rear window!
It is one thing to be a poor loser, but Hall is the ultimate example of a...
"Let us oft speak kind words to each other....."
Utah just can't get away with letting BYU get a touchdown pass in overtime....
of rude. I've lived in many states as my profession has taken around the...




You can be the first to comment on this story.