VIDEO: Wisconsin Badgers Fan Banned After Anti-Asian Gesture

A Wisconsin Badgers fan was banned from future games after being caught on video making a racist, anti-Asian gesture at Northwestern students.

The unidentified fan was seen using his fingers to make slanted eyes during the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium this week. He was quickly confronted by stadium officials.

In a statement, Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh and Chancellor Rebecca Blank immediately blasted the fan’s “racist behavior.”

“We are reaching out today to condemn the offensive anti-Asian gestures made by a man in Badgers apparel at Tuesday’s men’s basketball game at Northwestern University and to share the actions being taken,” they said.

“We also want to acknowledge that hateful behavior like this still happens far too often, on and off-campus – towards members of our Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American community as well as other marginalized communities.” the school officials added. “It inflicts pain and fear and causes students, staff, and faculty to feel unwelcome and unsafe. Most of the time, it is not captured on video, and the perpetrators are not identified. In this case, we are grateful to the fans that documented and shared this incident.”

Northwestern applauded the Badgers for removing the fan.

“We join with [Wisconsin Badgers] and all [Badgers] in condemning the abhorrent anti-Asian actions of an attendee at the Northwestern game this week. We applaud NU for removing him,” Northwestern tweeted. “He is no longer welcome at UW Athletics events – we are barring him from buying tickets on our platform.”

The university said that the fan would be unable to purchase tickets or attend games for life.

“We remain committed to supporting the individuals and communities that are harmed by this behavior and ensuring they know they belong and are valued,” UW-Madison said. “We will take all appropriate actions under university policies in response to incidents like this. We encourage anyone witnessing or experiencing an incident to report it. Being a Badger means speaking out and supporting our fellow Badgers.”

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