Oakland A’s Bench Coach Caught Doing a Nazi Salute After Win Over the Rangers

Oakland A's bench coach Ryan Christenson was caught on camera doing a Nazi salute twice after the team's 6-4 win over the Texas Rangers.  He did the salute during the postgame handshake line, which is now a COVID-conscious elbow bump line.

Christenson did not deny using the salute, but called it unintentional during his apology.  The A's also released a statement condemning the gesture.

From TMZ Sports:

Christenson says the whole thing was born out of an attempt to be more COVID-conscious.

"Today in the dugout I greeted players with a gesture that was offensive. In the world today of [COVID-19] I adapted our elbow bump, which we do after wins, to create some distance with the players."

"My gesture unintentionally resulted in a racist and horrible salute that I do not believe in. What I did is unacceptable, and I deeply apologize."

The A's acknowledged the move looked like a Nazi salute and apologized as well.

"We do not support or condone this gesture, or the racist sentiment behind it."

The team added, "This is incredibly offensive, especially in these times when we as a [club] and many others are working to expose and address racial inequities in our country."

A clear Nazi salute from Oakland @Athletics bench coach Ryan Christenson today. His apology does not suffice.pic.twitter.com/wAtP6TDuy5

— Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) August 7, 2020

That looks pretty intentional to me.  After having it corrected by one of the players he seemed to laugh about it during the second use of the salute.

I would expect a suspension of some sort to be handed down by either the MLB or the A's.