us bank

Sunday’s Bears-Vikings game is meaningless with regards to the playoffs, but it drew our attention due to something going on off the field… or above it.

While the game was going on, two fans climbed up to the top of US Bank Stadium and hung a banner. Initially, no one could tell what it was or why anyone would want to hang from a banner at the top of a giant stadium during a game, but the motives soon became apparent.

The banner is a protest against US Bank’s investment in a company that is funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline is of course a very sensitive political issue right now, and passions on both sides are running high.

Police had to clear about six rows of seats below where the protesters climbed up the scaffolding and hung their banner while the game continued to be played. As of this writing, they are still trying to get the two protesters down, but the situation continues to get even more bizarre.

And to add to the strangeness of the situation, regardless of your feelings on the pipeline issue, the protesters took another interesting step by e-mailing a press release to reporters covering the game.

As of this point, FOX’s broadcast crew of Dick Stockton, David Diehl and Kristina Pink have not mentioned the banner nor the police’s attempt to get the protesters and the banner down during the broadcast.

UPDATE: The protesters are apparently having phone conversations with reporters while hanging from the rafters.

As of the end of the game, the protesters are still up there.

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.