Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arraigned on a hate crime in a Manhattan court room yesterday following his arrest for assault earlier Friday. Young has been accused of drunkenly making anti-semitic comments (shouting "F***ing Jews") during an exchange with four tourists, and then tackling one of them. Young apologized after his arraignment: “I sincerely regret what happened last night...I take this matter very seriously, and assure everyone that I will do everything I can to improve myself as a person and player.”
According to police, the confrontation began about 2:30 a.m. after the four men (who were tourists from Chicago) spoke with a panhandler wearing a yarmulke outside the Hilton New York along Sixth Avenue. It's not clear why they ended up talking to Young, but he started yelling the anti-semitic remarks then. The 6-foot-3, 240 pound athlete then shoved, pushed and tackled a 32-year-old man; Young then allegedly followed the man into the hotel. Young was later sent to a nearby hospital because he was intoxicated.
Defense attorney Daniel J. Ollen said it was unclear what started the exchange, but there was surveillance video—which he hasn't seen—that showed someone in the group saying something to Young before the scuffle. "He clearly reacted to something that was said to him," Ollen said. In 2006, Young was suspended for 50 games without pay by the International League for throwing a bat that hit a replacement umpire in the chest.
The Anti-Defamation League in New York issued a statement about the incident:
Bigoted words are unbecoming for any professional sports player, and anti-Semitism certainly has no place in the game. ... Major league baseball players are role models for young people. ... We hope that Mr. Young will take the necessary steps to apologize and ensure that his alleged anti-Semitic words do not reverberate and do lasting harm.
Members of the Detroit Jewish community of Detroit told the Detroit Free Press they were shocked and saddened by the allegations: "When I read the news about Young, my heart sank to the floor," said Rabbi Jason Miller of Farmington Hills. In the past year, [my son] has become a diehard Detroit Tigers fan. To my son, Delmon Young is a hero. I still don't know how I will explain this to my son or if I will at all."
