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George Norcross was allegedly "verbally and physically abusive" when asked to remove an Israeli/American flag from his box at a Philadelphia Eagles game.
The businessman attended Sunday's home game with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, but was ejected for displaying the flags over the side of his VIP box and repeatedly ignoring requests to take them down.
The Eagles clarified the reason for his removal in a statement to Newsweek.
"The Philadelphia Eagles reaffirm our stance again condemning the horrific and brutal Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7th," the statement read.
"We feel it necessary to articulate the facts of the matter involving Mr. Norcross at the stadium on Sunday. Mr. Norcross' removal from the stadium had nothing to do with the content of his sign."
The statement continued: "Our stadium policies expressly prohibit signage containing any kind of non-game messaging to be hung from a stadium suite.
"Stadium staff repeatedly asked Mr. Norcross to remove the sign he hung outside of the suite. Instead of complying with the request, Mr. Norcross became physically and verbally abusive.
"Mr. Norcross was ejected from the stadium only after his abuse toward numerous stadium staff members continued. He was escorted from the suite level to the stadium's ejection point, just as anyone else would be after engaging in abusive behavior in violation of stadium policy."
Video on social media showed Norcross, a one-time Democratic Party powerbroker, exchanging words with security before being escorted out of the game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Newsweek has contacted Norcross by email for comment.
Norcross displayed his support for Israel amid its ongoing air raids and military ground operations in the Gaza Strip following Hamas' attack last month, which killed around 1,400 people according to figures from The Associated Press.
The death toll in Gaza as of Tuesday morning has surpassed 10,000 people, according to AP, which also reported that food, water and fuel is running low in the Palestinian territory. A further four men were killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank overnight, bringing the death toll there to around 160 since October 7.
Israel has continued to assert its military retaliation is an attempt to rescue around 240 hostages taken by Hamas, which the Palestinian military group took as leverage in negotiations for a prisoner release deal.
Norcross' brother, Donald Norcross, was one of the first U.S. representatives to visit Israel after the Hamas attacks.
"This wasn't in the course of a battle between armies," he told the Philly Voice at the time. "This was an attack on men, women and children—babies. It's just unfathomable what has occurred there."
A number of countries have recalled their ambassadors to Israel over its attack on Gaza, including Turkey, which became the first North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to do so.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the move was in light of "the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians, and Israel's refusal of calls for ceasefire and continuous and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid."
Other countries to have cut diplomatic ties include Bolivia, Honduras, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia and Jordan.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more