Toronto Raptors fans boo American national anthem as trade war heats up

By The Associated Press and The Canadian Press

Fans at Scotiabank Arena loudly booed during the American national anthem before the Toronto Raptors hosted the Los Angeles Clippers continuing an emerging trend at pro sporting events in Canada.

Fans of the NBA’s lone Canadian franchise booed the anthem after similar reactions broke out Saturday night at NHL games in Ottawa and Calgary, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump made his threat of import tariffs on America’s northern neighbour a reality.

Fans booed throughout “The Star-Spangled Banner” performance before the crowd erupted in applause for “O Canada” which was sung by 15-year-old Kyra Daniel.

Raptors forward Chris Boucher, a Canadian citizen, was asked after his team’s 115-108 win – Toronto’s eighth in its last 10 games – whether he’d ever experienced something like that.

“No, no, no,” he said. “But have you ever seen us getting taxed like that?”

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic had no comment on the boos during “The Star Spangled Banner.”

L.A. head coach Tyronn Lue actually sang the Canadian national anthem in full, but said he had no reaction when the American anthem was booed.

“I like that song. I heard it a lot during the playoffs,” said Lue. “I know it by heart.”

Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard, who helped Toronto win the 2019 NBA championship, got a warm round of applause when he was introduced before tipoff. Leonard said “next question” when asked about the anthem booing.

Later in the evening, the jeers began at Rogers Arena in Vancouver as Agasha Mutesasira launched into the opening notes of the song before the Vancouver Canucks faced the Detroit Red Wings.

As she began to sing “O Canada,” boisterous cheers rose from the crowd.

“I mean, it’s too bad, right? It is what it is,” said Red Wings forward Patrick Kane. “I guess you can maybe understand it from this side but seems like it’s a thing that’s going around the league right now.”

Asked whether he’d ever heard an anthem booed during his many years in the NHL, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet took a moment to think.

“I don’t know. That’s a good question,” he said. “I don’t want to go into politics, though.”

Detroit’s head coach Todd McLellan said he has his own personal opinions on the current political landscape, but opted to keep them to himself.

“I’m going to separate that from what we were all here for was the entertainment value of a hockey game,” he said.

Trump declared an economic emergency in order to place taxes of 25 per cent on imports from Canada while energy imported from Canada, including oil, natural gas and electricity, would be taxed at a 10 per cent rate.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico’s president ordered retaliatory tariffs on goods from America in response.

Joseph Chua, a Toronto resident who was at the Raptors game, said he’s going to be feeling the tariffs “pretty directly” in his work as an importer.

Still, he said he doesn’t think booing is “the right thing to do in this situation.” He chose to stay seated instead.

“I have a bunch of American family, friends that live in the states that are Americans, we travel to America all the time, but I thought chanting, ‘Canada,’ would be a more appropriate stance,” said Chua, who was deliberately wearing his red Canada Basketball cap. “Usually I will stand. I’ve always stood during both anthems. I’ve taken my hat off to show respect to the American national anthem, but today we’re feeling a little bitter about things.

“We were already talking about what businesses are Canadian, specifically, what are American, specifically, what to avoid. When I go grocery shopping, I will definitely be trying to avoid American products and groceries.”

U.S. national anthem boos in Canada are rare, but not unheard of especially when tied to world events. In the early 2000s, fans at games in Canada booed to show their disapproval of the U.S.-led war against Iraq.

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