George Norcross says he was removed from Philadelphia Eagles game over U.S.-Israel flag
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- South Jersey businessman and political power broker George Norcross says he's thinking about suing the Philadelphia Eagles after he was kicked out of Sunday's game vs. the Dallas Cowboys.
Norcross said it was all because he showed his support for Israel.
Norcross said he was forcibly removed and assaulted because he refused to remove an American and Israeli flag he hung off the box he was sitting in.
However, the Eagles sent a statement saying Norcross was not removed from the stadium because of what the sign expressed, but because non-game messaging is prohibited on signs hung from stadium suites.
Norcross' brother -- Congressman Donald Norcross -- shared a picture of the flag on social media.
George Norcross released a statement saying it's not clear to him why the U.S-Israeli flag was deemed obscene, indecent or inappropriate:
"Yesterday, I was forcibly removed and assaulted by the non-police security staff of Lincoln Financial Field and the Eagles/NFL for refusing to remove a 3' x5' American and Israeli flag I'd hung off the box I was sitting in. As a longtime passionate fan and season ticket holder, I have watched the Eagles/NFL make clear and strong statements on numerous important civil justice issues and ethnic and world conflicts, including supporting the people of Ukraine, so as a strong supporter of Israel -- a country which was viciously attacked by the terrorist group Hamas less than a month ago -- I thought it was an important statement to make.
It remains unclear why the Eagles/NFL believe that the US-Israeli flag should be deemed "obscene or indecent" or otherwise inappropriate -- which is what I was cited for -- and should therefore be ripped down despite both issuing public statements strongly supporting Israel following the October 7th attacks. But as I consider whether to file suit against the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL and the security company which yanked me out of the box and paraded me in front of thousands of fans, I urge other supporters of Israel to make their feelings known to the team and the NFL just as they have to universities like Penn and Harvard.
There is no dispute: On October 7th, Hamas murdered innocent Israeli civilians, raped woman and butchered children, and continues to hold hostages. I believe Israel has the right to defend itself, just as the United States did following the September 11th attacks and I will remain a proud and vocal defender of its right to do so. Americans have the right to peacefully protest, but that does not include the right to threaten people with bodily harm or even death."
Here's more of the statement from the Philadelphia Eagles:
"Our stadium policies expressly prohibit signage containing any kind of non-game messaging to be hung from a stadium suite. Stadium staff repeatedly asked Mr. Norcross to remove the sign he hung outside of the suite. Instead of complying with the request, Mr. Norcross became physically and verbally abusive. Mr. Norcross was ejected from the stadium only after his abuse toward numerous stadium staff members continued. He was escorted from the suite level to the stadium's ejection point, just as anyone else would be after engaging in abusive behavior in violation of stadium policy."
The team reiterated that it condemns the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
