Thread by @mlsrumors

If this Iron Front ban was simply about MLS wanting to prevent extreme political views (which its not, being against racism & fascism is not an extremist position) then perhaps it needs to examine the man whose name is engraved on the Philip Frederick Anschutz MLS Cup trophy.

In Philip Anschutz contributed money to the Full House PAC a group which backed a long list of racist and anti-LGBTIQ+ candidates such as Ronald DeSantis who 4 times attended conferences organized by a white supremacist washingtonpost.com/investigations… nytimes.com/2018/08/29/us/…

... and Ronald DeSantis referred to an African-American opponent as a "monkey".rollingstone.com/politics/polit… Also attended a convention which had speakers who talked about killing Muslims and demeaned women.
eu.naplesnews.com/story/news/pol…

commondreams.org/news/2018/09/1…

If that was not bad enough in 2016 Anschutz directly backed Orin Hatch voted against same-sex marriage advocating a constitutional ban on it, voted against adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes&voted to all job discrimination based on sexual orientation

Hatch was given a 20% rating by the American Civil Liberties Union indicating a very poor voting record with regards to civil rights and a 0% rating by the Human Rights Campaign Fund indicating an extreme anti-LGBTIQ stance.

It's clear where these actions against MLS supporters who displayed anti-racism/anti-fascism messages as well as the push for the Chick-fil-A sponsorship came from. The man with his name on the trophy every MLS team is trying to win.

If MLS was really worried about racist extremist groups gaining a foothold it's clear they didn't act quickly in New York City but acted very quickly against people opposed to racism and fascism. It's also clear why that might have been the case.

At one time, MLS needed Phil Anschutz to keep the league alive when literally it almost died in 2002. Almost no one wanted to buy a team. Today if the LA Galaxy were on the market there would be a long line of billionaires willing to purchase them. He is a bad actor, period.

Anschutz influence on the new Code of Conduct is almost undeniable given what we've seen. If MLS contends that the meaning of the Iron Front symbol has changed due to the actions of an extremist "violent group" then its clear where that narrative might have come from.

MLS has acted against fans using an arbitrary Code of Conduct which does not identify which symbols are acceptable and which aren't. Maybe their ownership Code of Conduct also needs updating. At one time MLS needed Phil Anschutz. #dontcrosstheline should start with him.