Florida A&M fans alleged in a report that they endured racial slurs and other forms of harassment while in attendance during a first-round FCS playoff game at Southeastern Louisiana University.
A report in the Tallahassee Democrat documenting FAMU fans’ experiences during its trip to the postseason game in Hammond last Saturday indicated that SELA fans used the N-word toward Rattlers’ players and alleged someone in the seating sections threw a beer that struck and injured a child.
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“By the start of the first quarter, SEL fans were holding up signs with crude messages. Some fans uttered the N-word to players. The large contingent of Rattlers fans, most traveling to Hammond in personal vehicles, refrained from responding, as long as they could. Many FAMU fans felt this was far beyond the usual spirited back-and-forth trash-talking between opposing fan bases,” the newspaper report said. “During halftime, when many were taking a restroom break and patronizing the concession stand, a beer can apparently hurled from the SLU student section into the FAMU crowd strikes a child in his face, bloodying his nose. The child was trembling.”
“Malina Murray, a FAMU student in attendance, was not happy,” the newspaper reported. “‘It’s one thing to support your school, but throwing beer is unacceptable,’ she said.
Southeastern Louisiana University school officials said the incidents alleged by the FAMU contingent were unfounded after an investigation.
