On this day in 1976, Cubs outfielder Rick Monday saved the American flag from two protesters who ran onto the field at Dodger Stadium and attempted to burn it
April 25, 2024
On this day in 1976, Cubs outfielder Rick Monday saved the American flag from two protesters who ran onto the field at Dodger Stadium and attempted to burn it
While there are varying opinions on burning an American flag, I’m not sure how many people think that doing so in the middle of a baseball game is appropriate at all. I don’t think so, anyway.
> The initial details about the incident were conflicting, but they pointed to a political motive. The older man was identified as both William Errol Thomas and William Errol Morris. One newspaper wrote that the protest was “against the treatment of American Indians.” > > “All Americans are squatters,” the man muttered, according to the Herald-Examiner. > > … > > A few facts emerged. William Errol Thomas was 37 years old, unemployed, and from Eldon, Missouri. Several sources mentioned that he was a Native American. The other person on the field was his son, who was all of 11. Thomas was attempting to attract “attention to what he claims is his wife’s imprisonment against her will in a Missouri mental institution,” according to LAPD investigator George Renty.
3 comments
https://youtu.be/hbr1hNp-nI4
Cool dude, cool hair.
‘Atta boy, Rick. That’s how you hustle.
While there are varying opinions on burning an American flag, I’m not sure how many people think that doing so in the middle of a baseball game is appropriate at all. I don’t think so, anyway.
Especially here when you consider who the protesters were and their alleged “cause”. [From a 2016 VICE article on the incident](https://www.vice.com/en/article/3dgq4b/when-rick-monday-saved-the-american-flag-from-being-burned-at-dodger-stadium):
> The initial details about the incident were conflicting, but they pointed to a political motive. The older man was identified as both William Errol Thomas and William Errol Morris. One newspaper wrote that the protest was “against the treatment of American Indians.”
>
> “All Americans are squatters,” the man muttered, according to the Herald-Examiner.
>
> …
>
> A few facts emerged. William Errol Thomas was 37 years old, unemployed, and from Eldon, Missouri. Several sources mentioned that he was a Native American. The other person on the field was his son, who was all of 11. Thomas was attempting to attract “attention to what he claims is his wife’s imprisonment against her will in a Missouri mental institution,” according to LAPD investigator George Renty.