The lawsuit, filed in April, claimed that Campeau-Laurion was, as the NYCLU put it, "the victim of religious and political discrimination on Aug. 26, 2008 when police officers forcibly restrained and ejected him from Yankee Stadium after he tried to walk past an officer during the playing of 'God Bless America.'" At the time, fans were expected to stay put during the song and submit to a recording of Kate Smith or, worse, the horrible yodeling of Ronan Tynan, because in those skittish post-9/11 days, to buy a plate of nachos during "God Bless America" was to buy a plate of nachos for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

No longer, however. The city, without admitting liability, has agreed to pay Campeau-Laurion a $10,001 settlement, throwing in an additional $12,000 to cover his legal fees. More importantly, in a stipulation attached to the settlement, the Yankees were allowed to lie and pretend that they never had a policy of restricting "fans wishing to move about the Stadium during the playing of 'God Bless America,'" even though they most certainly did. The team at least added that it had "no intention" of instituting any such policy.

Don't mistake the lame stipulation for anything but a thumping victory for Campeau-Laurion, civil libertarians everywhere, those of us sick of the Yankees' chest-pounding brand of patriotism, atheists, people with chronically weak bladders, and upper-concourse alcoholics trying to get one more in before last call — which is to say, just about everyone. Let us all be grateful for a land so fair.

Yankees Won't Restrict Fans for ‘God Bless America' [Bloomberg]
EARLIER: So, Yankee Stadium Takes This No Moving During "God Bless America"-Thing Rather Seriously

Be honest: The only reason you remember Mahmoud Abdul Rauf — that's Chris Jackson, for those who knew him back in Mississippi — is because he was the guy who didn't stand for the national anthem back in 1995. Some people were not entirely pleased with his act of defiance.

Carlos Delgado believed the U.S. invasion of Iraq was the "stupidest war ever," and he chose to stage a personal protest and not stand when God Bless America played in the seventh inning at ballparks. Yankees fans weren't so accepting of his decision, and on one occasion, when he lined out in the top of the seventh, New Yorkers started their "U-S-A!" chants. Patriotism at its finest.

All it takes for ESPN to cover to finally give some press to the Manhattanville women's basketball team is a player turning her back to the American flag during the national anthem. She faced the other way for her "quiet, private expression to herself of her own thoughts, her own ideas and moral judgment." The uproar wasn't as silent.

Allen Iverson's charity flag football game. (Yep.) National anthem begins to blare. Josh Howard: "Star Spangled Banner's going on right now. I don't celebrate that shit, because I'm black."

From all accounts, Carl Lewis is a perfectly patriotic gentleman. He won 10 medals, nine of them gold, for the Red, White and Blue, and after all of those times he ascended the Olympic podium, he listened to Francis Scott Key's magnum opus. Chances are, he even memorized it. If only he could have hit the notes at a 1993 NBA game. His rendition is slightly offensive, and entirely enjoyable. Who said schadenfreude was German?

The above video is of Yankee Stadium God-dismissing, anti-American Brad Campeau Laurion who enlightened us (and, seemingly, hundreds of other media outlets) about being forcibly escorted out of Yankee Stadium Tuesday night after he tried to go to the bathroom during the traditional 7th-inning rendition of "God Bless America." Laurion contends he wasn't doing anything except being a little unpatriotic. The NYPD, however, has a different recollection and shared it with the Daily News:

"A police spokesman said Campeau-Lampion was thrown out because he was "standing on his seat cursing, using inappropriate language and acting in a disrespectful manner while reeking of alcohol."

As of now, the Yankees have still yet to comment on Laurion's claims and he still is intent on pursuing legal action against the team. The person who will ultimately get the blame for all of this? A-Rod.

Anthem brouhaha at Stadium [NY Daily News]
So, So, The Yankees Take This No Moving During "God Bless America"-Thing Rather Serious [Deadspin]

Meet Bradford Campeau-Laurion, a 29-year-old man from Astoria, Queens, and a director of web production for a "major website" who made the unfortunate decision to blatantly disregard "God Bless America" and hit the head. He was dealt with swiftly and aggressively by Steinbrenner's Red, White, And Blue Muscle. I left a message with Yankees media relations for their comments on this, but it's probably safe to assume that they'll only react to this if Brad here makes a colossal stink over it.

Brad's detailed, irate, email is after the jump.

Deadspin Editors,

I attempted to get up to use the restroom, rather urgently, during the 7th inning stretch as God Bless America was beginning. As I attempted to walk down the aisle and exit my section into the tunnel, I was stopped by a police officer. He informed me that I had to wait until the song was over. I responded that I had to use the restroom and that I did not care about God Bless America.

As soon as the latter came out of my mouth, my right arm was twisted violenty behind my back and I was informed that I was being escorted out of the stadium. A second officer then joined in and twisted my left arm, also in an excessively forceful manner, behind my back. I informed them they were violating my First Amendment rights and that I had done nothing wrong, with no response from them.

I was sitting in the Tier Level, and of course this is the highest level of the stadium and I was escorted in this painful manner down the entire length of the stadium. About halfway down, I informed them that they were hurting me, repeated that I had done nothing wrong, and that I was not resisting nor talking back to them. One of them said something to the effect that if I continued to speak, he would find a way to hurt me more.

When we reached the exit of the stadium, they confiscated my ticket and the first officer shoved me through the turnstiles, saying "Get the hell out of my country if you don't like it."

Nowhere on the Yankee Stadium ticket policy nor on any posted sign does it say that forced patriotism is a required element to attend a baseball game. Nowhere in the laws of this country would that begin to be defensible.

Furthermore, when the two officers returned to their section, Steve who was still in the stadium overhead one of the officers say "We got to watch ourselves. One day we're really gonna get in trouble." They were also spreading rumors with a fan with whom they were friendly that I had said "This country sucks."

I do not believe in God, nor am in support of this country to a degree of patriotic fanaticism. The fact that I wanted to use the restroom instead of standing through God Bless America should not be grounds for a forcible ejection from a baseball game.

I spoke with Brad on the phone and he seems like a reasonable enough man, albeit one with a little bit of an anarchist bent (and, yes, he's a Red Sox fan) but he didn't sound like the type of guy to either embellish the incident in his favor or make it up. We had a quick e-mail q-and-a just to clarify a few things:

DS: Did you feel like you had gave security more reason than normal to act aggressively toward you?

No, I did not. Regardless of what I said, I did not act in a threatening manner, nor step toward the officer in a threatening manner. I just made my statement and attempted to continue to walk into the tunnel toward the restroom. I was given no opportunity to explain myself further, nor any explanation from the officer before my arm was being pinned behind my back.

DS: Were you aware of the "no movement" policy before you attempted to go to the bathroom?

I was not aware. People did not seem to be moving at the time, but I thought it was more a function of the fact that a lot of people at the stadium are rabid patriots rather than an actual policy.

DS: How many Yankees games have you attended and have you ever gotten up to go to the bathroom before?

I have probably attended an average of 8-10 Yankee games per year over the last 8 years. I have used the restroom countless times, though I do not recall ever trying to do so at the exact moment I did last night.

DS: Are you planning on suing Yankee stadium or do you just want them to eliminate the stupid policy?

I have contacted Normal Siegel (public advocate - http://normansiegel.com/) and the New York chapter of the ACLU. I have not discussed my options with them and I don't know my long term plans at this time. I want people to be aware of the forced patriotism that is happening here, a clear violation of First Amendment rights and something that should be kept wholly separate from attending a baseball game. To my knowledge, Yankee Stadium is the only stadium in the major leagues with this policy, let alone still playing God Bless America in the 7th inning stretch.

UPDATE: So, where did you end up going to the bathroom?

Ended up just getting on the train and holding it until I got to my girlfriend's place on 90th and Lex. Probably about another 45 minutes.