Report: Giants fans sue for the right to heckle with vulgarities
ByDan Schneier Dec 29, 2018
We take a break from New York Giants coverage of the 2018 regular season, the future for franchise icon Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr.’s troublesome quad injury, and Saquon Barkley’s record-breaking rookie season to provide an update on a story we covered back in 2017. When the Giants played the San Francisco 49ers two seasons ago during a year where the franchise would just hours later fire their general manager and head coach, it was two ornery fans who made headlines.
Luckily for these two fans, who also happened to be brothers, their story was buried the following week as the Giants focus shifted to the departures of ex-head coach Ben McAdoo and ex-general manager Jerry Reese and who would replace them. The two brothers, Kyle and Patrick Flynn, played the role of away team fans who got a little too excited rooting for the Giants and against the home team 49ers (and their fans). Kyle and Patrick were removed from the 2017 Giants-49ers game by force as the security guards on duty deemed them to not be fit to remain after receiving complaints of them belligerently criticizing the team while causing a scene.
The scene got ugly fast. As the on-duty security guards tried to remove Kyle from the stadium, he allegedly fell over the guard railing where he was reportedly both tased and choked by officers on the scene. According to responding officers, Kyle was warned to stop using vulgarities in front of other fans, including when he continuously flipped off Giants players on the sidelines, and when they refused to, the action was taken.
Now, more than a full year later, Kyle and Patrick are suing. The Patrick brothers have filed a lawsuit claiming they had their First Amendment rights violated and that the stadium security and officers used excessive force in removing them.
The Post has pulled directly from the suit:
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 [expletive] 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.”
Kyle Patrick was arrested and charged with resisting arrest before later dropping all charges and dismissing the case.
https://247sports.com/nfl/new-york-giants/Article/New-York-Giants-fans-sue-for-the-right-to-heckle-use-vulgarities-126896598/