Officials for the Fresno Grizzlies minor league baseball team have apologized after a video that played in the middle of their double header games on Memorial Day was said to have been improperly vetted.
The video in question included Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY-14) image in an “enemies of freedom” montage that ran while audio of President Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address played in the background.
The USA Today reports:
The Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies said the video, which was broadcast between the two games of its doubleheader Monday, was intended to be “a moving tribute” to the armed forces. But as the voice of President Ronald Reagan mentioned “enemies of freedom,” the video showed an image of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., between images of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and former Cuban president Fidel Castro.
Fresno, a minor-league affiliate of the Washington Nationals, said the editing “made a statement that was not our intent and certainly not our opinion.” The club apologized to servicemen and women for what it called “the undue distraction on such a solemn day.”
“We’re embarrassed we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first,” the Grizzlies wrote on Twitter. “We unconditionally apologize to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) in addition to our fans, community and those we hurt. It was a mistake and we will ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.”
We're embarrassed we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first. We unconditionally apologize to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) in addition to our fans, community and those we hurt. It was a mistake and we will ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.
— Fresno Grizzlies (@FresnoGrizzlies) May 28, 2019
Watch the video below. The segment with Ocasio-Cortez’s image is about 3 minutes in:
Here is the paragraph from Reagan’s Jan. 20, 1981 inaugural address that was played during the video segment that featured AOC:
As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it, now or ever.
The USA Today also noted that a team spokesman said the employee who selected the video is sorry, and will no longer broadcast videos from the internet at Chukchansi Park – just to be on the safe side.
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—Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–
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