The Side-Eye: Stupid Fan Throws Banana At Black Hockey Player During Game, Swears It Had Nothing To Do With Race

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This guy can’t possibly be serious.

The man who tossed a banana at a black NHL player during a preseason game in Ontario pleaded guilty Monday and was hit with a $200 fine.

Christopher Moorhouse tossed the piece of fruit at Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds while the winger was trying to score against Detroit in the shootout portion of the game.

The September incident ignited a firestorm, with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman saying in a statement, “The obviously stupid and ignorant action by one individual is in no way representative of our fans or the people of London, Ontario.”

Moorhouse, 26, who claims to be a rabid Red Wings fan, maintains race was not an issue. He simply wanted to keep Simmonds from scoring against his team. Moorhouse failed in his quest, though, as Simmonds somehow kept his concentration and scored on the shootout attempt. For the record, the Red Wings won the meaningless preseason game 4-3.

“He was horrified when he saw the implications a day later as to how it had come out, and he said to me, ‘If I had an apple or an orange, I would have thrown that out onto the ice,'” Moorhouse’s lawyer Faisal Joseph told the Canadian Press after the incident.

“I don’t know if it had anything to do with the fact I’m black,” Simmonds, who has 10 goals and eight assists this season, said at the time. “I certainly hope not. When you’re black, you kind of expect [racist] things. You learn to deal with it.”

Moorhouse, who was charged with engaging in a prohibited activity, could have been hit with a more serious offense or even a hate crime.

Yeah, he definitely should have. Because regardless of the fruit, we bet he wouldn’t have thrown it at someone else.

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