Rangers investigating claim that Hispanic family was harassed in stands

The Texas Rangers are investigating a claim that a Hispanic family was harassed while attending a game at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Saturday, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

Rangers fan Jessica Romero detailed the alleged incident in a Facebook post that has since been shared nearly 60,000 times. The post included a selfie of the Romero family in their seats at Globe Life Park, where a fan seated directly behind them can be seen making an obscene gesture.

"He (the man) made it perfectly clear during the second inning that he is not a fan of Hispanics," Romero wrote. "And he just so happen to have a Hispanic family (us) sitting in front of him and another one sitting directly behind him. During the (second) inning the little boy behind him who looked to be about (my son) Nomar's age kicked the back of his chair.

"And for the next (three) innings I had to hear him complain about all the illegal immigrants that were surrounding him at the game. That he should kick little Speedy Gonzalez all the way back to Mexico for kicking his seat. That Trump needs to hurry and build the wall and send all these illegals back so they won't be kicking his seat. We left during the (fifth) inning.

"Sadly this is not the first or the last time we will ever experience this kind of racism."

Romero also wrote that she overheard the man tell his female companion that he planned to disrupt the family's photo shortly before the alleged verbal abuse began.

"I didn't even know they were talking about us," Romero told Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "She said, 'Yeah, we should make a photo album of how many pictures we've (messed) up.' Then I went to look at the picture and knew they were talking about us."

"He never said anything when my husband was sitting in the seat next to us," she added.

Jessica's husband, Ramon, said that his family had never experienced this type of behavior in their 10 years attending Rangers games.

"I was just in shock," Ramon Romero told Grant. "I would have said something, but she said she was more concerned about me and the safety of our son."

"It struck me that he's at a game being played by so many Latinos that maybe we are good enough to play for him, but not good enough to sit near him."

In a statement, the Rangers said that they have begun an investigation into the incident, which they added violates the club's code of conduct.

"The Rangers are committed to providing all of our guests with a safe and enjoyable experience and we are truly sorry that this family was subjected to this offensive behavior at Saturday's game," the club said, according to Grant. "There is no place at Globe Life Park in Arlington for this type of conduct to occur. After learning of this incident on Sunday, we have reached out to the Romero family and pledge to make their next trip to Globe Life Park a memorable and enjoyable experience."

Saturday's incident in Arlington occurred hours after 22 people were killed and another 24 were injured in a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. Police are investigating the shooting as a case of domestic terrorism and a possible hate crime against Hispanics.