A’s coach apologizes for ‘unintentional’ Nazi salute
A’s bench coach Ryan Christenson has apologized for what he said was an unintentional display of the Nazi salute following Oakland’s game Thursday afternoon.
Christenson was standing near the A’s dugout after their win over the Texas Rangers when a telecast showed him extend his right arm with palm faced downward as closer Liam Hendriks approached in the postgame handshake line. Hendriks paused and then bent Christenson’s arm at the elbow and bumped it with his forearm before continuing toward the dugout.
Christenson told The Chronicle that Hendriks has been using a chop motion instead of an elbow bump: “But he was staying away from me,” with teams encouraging physical distancing, Christenson said, “so my arm was out there.”
Christenson said Hendriks alerted him to the gesture.
“He said, ‘No, no straight arm, don’t do that,’ ” Christenson said. “Obviously, I was not doing that intentionally. It was just unfortunate. I know my heart, obviously that was not my intention. I don’t know what more to say. I did it. It was unintentional. I’m sure it looks terrible.”
As Hendriks passed him, Christenson turned and pointed at Hendriks. Christenson then briefly repeated the gesture as he moved toward the dugout.
“That was me turning and saying, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what I did, isn’t it?’ ” Christenson told The Chronicle. “I turned and said, ‘I see what you mean, oh no, that’s like Heil Hitler.’ I’m cringing inside picturing myself like that. Anyone should know better. It’s like standing there with my middle finger up.
“I’m cringing in my mind because I know what I was doing. I absolutely apologize for everything.”
Hendriks corroborated Christenson’s account of their interaction in a text to The Chronicle. Hendriks wrote: “I know Ryan (Christenson) and what happened today was in no way a reflection of who he is.”
In Nazi Germany, the salute was used as a greeting and manner of expressing devotion to Adolf Hitler. The gesture is now illegal in Germany and banned in several other European nations. According to the AntiDefamation League, the gesture is still used by neoNazis and other white supremacists and is the most common white supremacist hand sign in the world.
On Thursday evening, Christenson also released a statement through the A’s:
“I made a mistake and will not deny it. Today in the dugout I greeted players with a gesture that was offensive. In the world today of COVID, 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.”
Christenson is not expected to face discipline from the team. The A’s released the following statement:
“A’s bench coach Ryan Christenson greeted players with a gesture that looked like a Nazi salute. We do not support or condone this gesture or the racist sentiment behind it. This is incredibly offensive, especially in these times when we as a Club and so many others are working to expose and address racial inequities in our country. We are deeply sorry that this happened on our playing field.” Chronicle staff writer Susan Slusser
contributed to this report.
“It was just unfortunate. I know my heart, obviously that was not my intention. I don’t know what more to say. I did it. It was unintentional. I’m sure it looks terrible.”
Ryan Christenson, A’s bench coach