Phillies Tased Fan

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About

Phillies Tased Fan is a photoshop meme based on a news photograph of a Phillies fan eluding a security officer and running across the outfield during a 2010 Major League Baseball match between St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies.

Origin

During a season match between St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies held at Citizens Bank Park on May 3rd, 2010, a towel-waving Philadelphia Phillies fan managed to enter the outfield and run in circles for 30 seconds, shortly before getting subdued by a police officer with a taser stun gun. A spectator recorded the incident on footage, which was subsequently uploaded onto YouTube^[1] on the same day.

Both the original video and another embeddable version^[2] went viral, each accumulating nearly 2 million views in the following weeks. Although the incident was not televised as it happened during a commercial break, it was witnessed by over 40,000 spectators, many of whom booed in reaction to the disruption of the game.

Spread

Many news stations^[4] and sports news sites^[6] reported on the story, many of them questioning the legitimacy of taser user to subdue the teenager. In an official statement released after the game, the Philadelphia Police Department explained the officer acted in accord with its department guidelines, which allow officers to fire their taser guns to subdue fleeing suspects.

According to the Google News^[5], more than 3,000 articles were written about the story, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and the Los Angeles Times among others. The media coverage soon led to an online debate over the widespread use of taser guns in law enforcement agencies and whether the current guidelines are in compliance with individual civil rights. The teenager was eventually revealed as a 17 year old Steve Consalvi, who issued an apology for his stunt on the baseball field.

Notable Examples

The photograph of the fan running away from a police officer on the field was featured in numerous print dailies; it was also adapted into a series of photoshopped images across internet culture blogs and communities such as 4chan, Reddit and The Daily What among others.