A pro-Palestinian protester who sprinted onto the Yankee Stadium field at exactly 9:11 p.m. on the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks received a furious welcome from the Bronx crowd. Security officers chased the man across the outfield and tackled him to the grass as thousands of fans erupted into chants of “USA! USA!” Fans hurled beer cans and other drinks toward the protester while officers carried him away. Police later identified the man as 38-year-old Kelly Marcucci of Long Island.
The disruption happened Friday, September 11th, during the opening game of the Subway Series between the New York Yankees and New York Mets. The sellout crowd of 47,410 had gathered for a game filled with tributes to the nearly 3,000 people murdered in the 2001 terrorist attacks. Former Yankees who helped New York recover during the weeks following 9/11 returned for the ceremony, while both teams wore caps honoring the city’s first responders.
Marcucci entered the field during the top of the seventh inning with the Yankees leading 5-2. The Mets had loaded the bases with two outs, and Francisco Lindor was facing Yankees reliever Brent Headrick with a full count. Marcucci reportedly jumped from the left-field stands before running toward center field while waving a large Palestinian flag. Players remained off to the side as stadium security converged on him.
A video of the incident shows several security officers surrounding Marcucci and forcing him onto the outfield grass. He was wearing a white jersey bearing the anti-Trump slogan “No Kings” across the front. Multiple officers restrained him before lifting him from the ground and carrying him toward the area beyond the center-field wall. Marcucci appeared to struggle and kick at the officers as they removed him.
The crowd immediately answered the stunt with loud chants of “USA,” which spread through the stadium as Marcucci was pinned down. Fans seated near the route used to remove him began throwing beer cans and drinks in his direction once security moved him beyond the outfield wall. Some spectators could also be heard shouting profanities at the protester. The Yankees declined to comment publicly on the field invasion.
The NYPD identified Marcucci as the protester and said he had been charged with misdemeanor trespassing and interference with a professional sporting event, according to the New York Post. Marcucci was arrested and later issued a desk appearance ticket requiring him to answer the charges in court. The newspaper also reported that Marcucci had described himself online as a “revisionist Marxist” and “spiritual tactician.” Hours before the game, he reportedly posted a lengthy message touching on capitalism, Zionism, Saudi Arabia, and the September 11th attacks.
Watch the protester get tackled before Yankee Stadium erupts into “USA” chants here:
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The interruption caused only a brief delay before the game resumed. Headrick threw several warm-up pitches while security cleared the field, then needed just one pitch to retire Lindor on a line drive back to the mound. The Yankees eventually defeated the Mets 6-4, with Carlos Rodón allowing two runs, one earned, while striking out eight over 6 1/3 innings. Cody Bellinger supplied the biggest hit with a three-run home run in the second inning.
The night had begun with an extended ceremony honoring the victims, survivors, and first responders of September 11th. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Joe Torre, Jorge Posada, Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, and other members of the 2001 Yankees participated in the remembrance. Country singer Lee Greenwood performed “God Bless the U.S.A.,” while a seven-minute tribute played on the scoreboard. As MLB explained, the Yankees and Mets also wore first-responder caps bearing their team logos.
Brielle Saracini and her husband, Sean McGuire, threw the ceremonial first pitches before the game. Both lost their fathers in the September 11th attacks and later met at a summer camp for children whose parents were killed that day. Saracini’s father, United Airlines Capt. Victor Saracini, was the pilot of Flight 175, which terrorists flew into the World Trade Center’s South Tower. Jeter, who befriended Saracini after she wrote him a letter as a grieving 10-year-old, watched from the mound as she delivered the pitch.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.