A man stayed seated during the national anthem at a Cubs game, then an older fan told him to ‘get up’ and slapped him

A man sitting in the stands at Wrigley Field found himself in the middle of a confrontation on Sunday, all because he chose to stay seated during the national anthem. A fan sitting a row behind him caught on almost immediately, right as the Jersey Girls began their rendition of the anthem before the Cubs took on the Twins.

According to the New York Post, the confrontation began when the older man told the younger fan to get up while the anthem was still playing. He didn’t stop there, leaning in close enough to say something directly into the other man’s ear, then bringing his hand down on the back of his head. Footage of the whole thing ended up on X, and the post has already been viewed more than nine million times.

Heads turned throughout the section as people tried to figure out what had just happened, and the younger man got to his feet right away. His expression made it clear he hadn’t seen any of it coming. “Thank you, thank you so much young man,” the older man said once the younger fan was on his feet.

Then the comments turned into their own anthem debate

It didn’t take long for the replies to turn into the same kind of back-and-forth that tends to follow whenever a fan makes headlines for their behavior during the anthem. A number of people brushed off the hit entirely, framing it as a minor tap rather than something worth getting worked up over. One person wrote, “It looks like no one standing around had a problem with this love tap reminding the dude, in case he forgot to show respect for our country.”

Other viewers pushed back against that read, arguing that sitting during the anthem is a choice protected by the same freedoms the song is supposed to represent. “It’s his right to sit,” one reply read. “That’s what this country is about, freedom. He’s still a d***, but this ain’t a dictatorship, either.”

Standing for the anthem is customary, not something the law actually requires. The federal Flag Code, laid out under Title 36 of the U.S. Code, advises civilians to stand at attention with a hand over the heart, but the statute uses “should” rather than “shall” and carries no penalty for not following it.

A different commenter added more nuance, saying the older man crossed a line by putting his hands on a stranger. “He shouldn’t have slapped the kid,” they wrote. “Unless the kid was his grandson, nephew or such, and Pops was administering a respect lesson, keep your hands to yourself. Acceptance of such small acts leads up the ladder to bigger ones.”

Whether this rises to the level of battery is something legal specialists say hinges entirely on the specific details of the case. A similar case played out earlier this year, when a Connecticut wrestling coach ended up facing assault charges after slapping a student’s head over a joke.

On the field, the actual game turned into a lopsided one, with the Cubs cruising to a 10-1 win over the Twins. Alex Bregman got things going with a two-run homer in the first inning, Shota Imanaga followed that up with seven shutout innings, and Nico Hoerner capped things off with a bases-loaded triple that drove in four runs.

Neither man involved has been publicly identified, and it is unclear whether either of them was reached for comment. The exact section where the two were sitting has also not been specified.