This Trump supporter is playing tough with the New York Mets.
Aura Moody wants $2 million in damages from the team and Citi Field, claiming that Last month he was barred from entering the stadium until he took off his “Make America Great Again” hatAccording to the lawsuit filed Sept. 6 in Brooklyn federal court.
The Republican from St. Albans, Queens, asserted that the ban violated her right to free speech and had caused her “emotional distress.”
“This country is supposed to be a beacon of freedom for all,” Moody, 64, who is representing herself, told the Post.
She is accusing the Mets of “racial discrimination and political retaliation” and “reputational damage.”
Moody, a social worker and mother of two, said she and her friend wore MAGA hats when they arrived at Citi Field for the Mets-Oakland A’s game on Aug. 14.
He was with eight other members of the Queens Village Republican Club.
He said he had just gone through security when a Citi Field employee told him he wasn’t allowed inside wearing Trump gear.
Moody said he tried to exercise his First Amendment rights several times, but the employee told him the MAGA cap was “too political” and that he should take it off.
Moody and her friend — who are both on the club's board — only agreed to take off their hats because they were worried about inconveniencing the rest of their group, who were already in their seats.
Moody “attempted to defuse the situation” and asked if she could put her MAGA hat in her bag, but was told, “No, because you can put the hat back on when you get to your seat. You will have to take the MAGA hat out of the stadium,” according to court papers.
“She was aware she was being racially targeted and politically retaliated against for being a Black woman wearing a MAGA hat, so she requested to speak to a supervisor,” Moody said in the legal filing.
When Moody asked the security supervisor if he was required to take his MAGA hat outside of Citi Field, the supervisor responded, “It's policy.”
Moody claimed the two women therefore had to call the friend they had carpooled with so they could put their hats back in the vehicle.
Moody said in the lawsuit that when she finally reached her seat, she saw white individuals wearing MAGA hats and MAGA attire — who were other members of her group.
The team initially said, “A Mets employee had a misunderstanding about our attire policy.”
“We are reaching out to Aura Moody to apologize and invite her back to the ballpark.”
The lawsuit acknowledges that a team representative called Moody on Aug. 17 and “apologized on behalf of the New York Mets” and assured him that “there is no such policy against wearing MAGA hats, and staff has been retrained.”
The Mets had no comment on the lawsuit, team spokeswoman Nancy Elder said.
Moody told the Post that she hasn’t been back to Citi Field since the MAGA hat incident and isn’t sure if she ever will.
“It was embarrassing. It was heartbreaking. It was shocking. It was humiliating. So how do I go back? It might take a while,” she said.
