In a disturbing attack caught on video, multiple 49ers fans punched and kicked a lone Vikings fan outside Levi’s Stadium after last night’s game.
The widely circulated video does not show how the fight started, but Brandon Cosio, the 49ers fan who posted it on Facebook, wrote that fans “were talking smack to each other, getting into each others faces.” In the video, the Vikings fan is on the ground, obviously hurt, and he gets kicked in the head and punched. One security guard attempted to stop the multiple attackers, and eventually helped the Vikings fan back to his feet. No police officers could be seen at any point, even after onlookers had been screaming for help for more than a minute.
“ZERO cops were on the scene. ZERO,” Cosio wrote. “Santa Clara Police Department were no where to be found. Hopefully they can show up and arrest the parties in this video. Also give recognition to the security guard in the yellow jacket who was first on the scene, brave man getting in the middle of that brawl.”
Levi’s Stadium has been the scene of some of the ugliest fan violence the NFL has seen. Last year two fans were arrested and two fans were hospitalized after a fight in a restroom. The NFL has also canceled the annual Raiders-49ers preseason game because Bay Area hooligans used it as an opportunity to brawl with rival fans.
The vast majority of NFL fans go to watch a football game, not to get into a fight, but with around 1 million fans a weekend attending NFL games, there will always be a few who engage in violence. Those few are a major problem that the league needs to expend greater security resources to stop.