Native Americans File Claim Against San Francisco After Getting Ejected From Giants' Native American Night At AT&T Park
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Two Native Americans ejected from the San Francisco Giants' Native American Heritage Night at AT&T Park have filed claims against the city claiming they were injured by police and subjected to civil right's violations.
In a post on The Last Real Indians blog, April Negrette details how she and Kimball Bighorse were kicked out of the ballpark June 24 after confronting a group of Caucasian fans for wearing a fake, plastic costume headdress.
Negrette said she implored one fan to give her the headdress after trying to educate the group about culturally acceptable ways of celebrating Native Americans.
After a few moments, however, Negrette said one of the group returned with security officers and demanded she give the headdress back, which Negrette refused.
Because I wouldn't comply, we were ushered behind the bleachers where SFPD were waiting and they ripped the headdress from my hands. Giants security personnel proceeded to inform us that we were ejected from the game for "unruly behavior". We wouldn't leave because they wouldn't tell us what about our behavior was unruly, so the police decided that was cause enough for throwing us on the ground and handcuffing us. After over an hour of being assaulted and detained we were released with not so much as a ticket.
The claims filed by Negrette and Bighorse are a standard precursor to a lawsuit.
Following the incident, the Giants issued a policy to banning "culturally insensitive" clothing at the ballpark. However, Negrette and Bighorse saying the action is not enough.
The two plan to list their demands for the team tomorrow at a press conference outside AT&T Park.
