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Jacksonville Icemen player accused of making racist gesture during game, kicked off team

Jacob Panetta has been released after being accused of making a racist gesture toward South Carolina Stingrays' Jordan Subban during Saturday's game.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — * The above unrelated video was originally published Jan. 17.

A Jacksonville Icemen defenseman has been released from the team for what he's accused of doing during Saturday night's game in Jacksonville against the South Carolina Stingrays.

Jordan Subban, a forward on the Stingrays, who is Black, took to Twitter following the game at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena saying Icemen Jacob Panetta made "monkey gestures" at him during a fight during overtime.

After the game, Subban tweeted, "More like @JPanetta12 was too much of a coward to fight me and as soon as I began to turn my back he started making monkey gestures at me so I punched him in the face multiple times and he turtled like the coward he is. There fixed it."

Video following the fight appears to show Panetta raising his arms at his sides towards Subban who is the younger brother of NHL All-Star P.K. Subban. The All-Star came to his brother's defense posting the video Saturday night.

The ECHL released the following statement:

The ECHL on Sunday announced that Jacksonville’s Jacob Panetta has been suspended indefinitely pending a hearing under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, as a result of his actions in ECHL Game #474, South Carolina at Jacksonville, on Jan. 22.

Panetta is suspended under Rule #28 – Supplementary Discipline as a result of his actions at 0:23 of overtime.

Credit: Jacksonville Icemen, South Carolina Stingrays
Jacksonville Icemen defenseman Jacob Panetta (left) was suspended indefinitely following a game Saturday night in which he was accused of making racial gestures at South Carolina Stingrays' Jordan Subban.

The Stingrays released a statement expressing the organization's disgust for what happened to their player.

"The South Carolina Stingrays are disgusted and appalled by last night's incident involving Jordan Subban ... This behavior has to stop and is unacceptable," a portion of the statement reads.

The Jacksonville Icemen released a statement Sunday afternoon saying it has released Panetta from the team.

The story continues below.

On Sunday evening, Panetta apologized to Subban in a video on Twitter with a caption saying "racism has no place in this world and no place in the game we love."

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