The New York Mets and Citi Field are being sued by a fan that has said she was racially profiled.
Aura Moody has filed a $2 million dollar lawsuit after Moody says she was racially profiled and denied entrance into the stadium because she was a Black woman sporting a “Make America Great Again” hat.
The lawsuit not only suggests racial profiling but also “political retaliation,” and “reputational harm”. Moody has said that she and a friend were told by a Citi Field staff member to remove their MAGA gear because it was “too political.” The lawsuit filed on Sept. 6 alleged the incident stripped Moody of her freedom of speech and caused emotional distress.
Moody is a board member of the Queens Village Republican Club and attended the game with her friend. Legal documents stated Moody “knew she was being racially targeted and politically retaliated against for being a Black woman wearing a MAGA hat.” The two wanted to stay for the game and remove their hats so they didn't disrupt the game. But, Moody asked permission to put her hat in her bag and was told that wasn't acceptable either.
The racial profiling side of things is expressed by Moody who said there were white fans wearing MAGA attire and hats that were allowed to wear them and were not told to take them off or that they couldn't keep them.
The incident has prompted the New York Mets to reach out to Moody in an attempt to apologize and they asked her to come back to the stadium. Moody refused and said it will be a while before she can go back.
A team spokesperson later said the staffer “was mistaken about our attire policy.”