A man in a Minnesota Vikings jersey was kicked and punched by several people outside the San Francisco 49ers’ stadium after the NFL game Monday night, and police said they are trying to determine the identities of the attackers.
In the meantime, a 70-second video is quickly making the rounds on the Internet that shows the assault outside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
Police Lt. Kurt Clarke verified the authenticity of the video and said his department is in touch with the victim and working to identify one or more suspects. No arrests have been made. Clarke declined to say how seriously the victim was hurt, who he was or where he is from.
The video, posted by a witness to his Facebook page and picked up by the popular sports website Deadspin.com, shows a man in an Antoine Winfield jersey on the ground and being punched by one man early on and then kicked in the head, punched and slapped in the face by a second man who sported a 49ers Jerry Rice jersey.
Bystanders and security personnel in yellow jackets scrambled to halt the assault and tend to the man on the pavement while others screamed “stop” and “leave him alone” and “what the hell’s wrong with you guys?”
After a momentary lull, a woman came up and kicked the victim at least twice before she was pushed away.
A member of security helped the victim to his feet, and he walked away under his own power.
In a written statement, 49ers spokesman Bob Lange said, “We are aware of the disturbing incident following last night’s game and are working in collaboration with the Santa Clara Police Department to investigate. … Unacceptable behavior such as this will not be tolerated.”
The team was declining to field questions about the incident or how stadium security handled the situation.
A Vikings spokesman, Jeff Anderson, also issued a statement. It read in part: “Clearly, it is troubling to see this video. … While we do not have enough information regarding the incident to comment further, we sincerely hope everyone involved is OK. We are in contact with NFL security and the 49ers organization.”
The man who shot the video gave an account of the altercation on Facebook:
“The Viking fan in the video and a 49er fan NOT in the video were talking smack to each other … The Viking fan shoved his wife into a barrier to try to get to the 49er fan, then at that point the 49er fan walked away from the situation. … The Viking fan turned around and addressed everyone behind him (mostly 49er fans). He said ‘what’s up, any of you —ers want some?!’ At that point everyone went silent for 2 seconds then as the Viking fan was turning around to walk away, the 49er fan in the black (at the beginning of the video who threw the first punch) tackled him to the ground. That’s where the video starts.”
During the length of the video, there was no intervention by law enforcement.
“ZERO cops were on the scene,” the man who posted the video wrote on his Facebook page. “Santa Clara Police Department were no where to be found.”
Clarke confirmed the officers arrived after those involved had left the scene, on the west side of the stadium.
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