Wisconsin revokes season tickets of fans involved with controversial costumes

The University of Wisconsin has revoked the season tickets of two fans that wore Halloween costumes depicting Donald Trump holding a noose around the neck of President Barack Obama to the Oct. 29 game against Nebraska.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Chancellor Rebecca Blank said the tickets were revoked because the people using them violated stadium rules and brought prohibited items into Camp Randall Stadium. She also said the individuals involved did not follow directions from Camp Randall staff.

“I am personally very sorry for the hurt that this incident and our response to it has caused,” Blank said during a meeting of the UW-Madison Faculty Senate. “We have learned from this incident, and we will do better the next time.”

Wisconsin officials did not explicitly say the people whose season tickets were revoked were those wearing the costumes, but the four tickets that were seized belonged to people involved in the incident.

“We have not definitively identified the individuals wearing the costumes at the game, but we believe the season ticket holders are related to this situation,” UW spokesman John Lucas said.

At the @UWBadgers game and there is a man with a mask of President Obama and a noose. This is racism, why was this allowed into the stadium? pic.twitter.com/zKEqhdDYny

— ???? (@woahohkatie) October 29, 2016

The entire costume included one person dressed as Donald Trump holding the hangman’s noose, which was placed around the neck of the person wearing the Obama mask. The person in the Obama mask also had a Hillary Clinton mask and a prison jumpsuit.

Members of guest services asked the fan wearing the Obama mask to remove the offensive parts of the costume and the fan initially complied. However, later during the game, the fan put the noose back on and the two fans marched around the stadium.

The school later issued a statement saying, “while repugnant and counter to the values of the university and athletic department, was an exercise of the individual’s right to free speech.”

Under Camp Randall policies, however, fans are not allowed to wear masks into the stadium, though they are allowed to wear them once inside. Also, the noose violated the stadium’s policy on “dangerous or inappropriate” objects.

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The incident sparked immediate outrage from on-campus and alumni groups, including University of Wisconsin-Madison Black and African-American Alumni, which issued a letter to the university expressing “deep concern” with the way the situation was handled.

Athletic director Barry Alvarez met with several groups and vowed to change the stadium’s policies before the next home game on Nov. 12.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday