Two Rancho Cucamonga men who allege they were assaulted at a Lakers game last week at the Citizens Business Bank Arena after refusing to stand during the national anthem have retained attorneys and say they are pursuing legal action.

Hey @suggie95 & @ooohhayyhayy you thought you could delete the video when you see the backlash, the internet doesn’t forget. #TakeAKnee pic.twitter.com/ABBsd8ZHUB — Ulises. (@OdysseyGarza) October 5, 2017

Matthew Brady, 20, and Jiahn Talebi, 21, said they attended the Lakers game Wednesday, Oct. 4, in Ontario and did not stand during the national anthem prior to the game.

“We’re joking around and talking. We don’t want to show respect for the national anthem. I sing out, ‘Home of the slave,’ because that’s what it should say,” Talebi said in a telephone interview Monday. He said a group of men sitting in front of them, in seats that actually belonged to Talebi and Brady, began quarreling with them.

Security intervened and made the group of men leave that section, Talebi said.

The basketball game began, and things remained calm, until the end of the fourth quarter, said Talebi.

“We thought it was the end of everything, and then this girl comes down and throws her drink on us. It was a soda or something,” said Talebi.

Brady received the brunt of it.

“I was on my phone texting someone. I’m just looking at my phone, I look up and my whole body’s wet,” Brady said in a telephone interview Monday. “My pants are drenched. My shirt’s drenched. I never even seen their face. I just seen them running upstairs.”

A video of the drink-tossing incident was posted on social media and went viral. The original Twitter video was deleted, but some users saved copies of the original tweet, while others obtained cached copies through online services. In the copies, the poster wrote “Take a kneel (sic) in the land of the slaves. Disrespect our flag and our country and that’s how we’ll react.”

The two women allegedly involved in the incident have been identified as California Baptist University students, the Riverside-based private university confirmed.

Several social media accounts associated with the women were deleted soon after the video was made public.

The controversy is part of the national debate surrounding whether National Football League players should be fired, as President Donald Trump has suggested, for not standing during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The NFL players, following the lead of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, are attempting to draw attention to what he believes is widespread shootings of black men and women by police in the United States.

University confirms students involved

“On Wednesday, October 4, 2017, an incident occurred at a pre-season NBA basketball game at the Ontario Citizens Business Bank Arena,” the university posted on its website Sunday. “While this was not an event affiliated with California Baptist University, two current CBU students were involved.”

In another statement released Monday to students and faculty, university President Ronald L. Ellis said the behavior on the video was “despicable” and “is an extreme departure from the positive Christian values that are central to the culture of California Baptist University and does not represent the vast majority of CBU students, employees and alumni.”

He went on to say the behavior does not reflect the university’s code of conduct and anyone who violates it is “subject to disciplinary consequences that may include expulsion from the university.”

Talebi and Brady said they chased the two women after one threw her drink on them. Arena security, they said, did not intervene, but merely pointed toward the direction in which the two women fled — outside the arena. Once outside, the two men said they were accosted again, only this time by a middle-aged man who apparently was aware of what they had done.

The man approached Talebi, and when Brady came to his aid, the man reportedly grabbed Brady by the neck.

“This guy just grabbed me by the neck and said, ‘You better have some respect for the (national) anthem, boy. You better have some respect, boy,’” Brady said.

A red-jacketed security guard was standing within feet of Brady and his and Talebi’s alleged assailant, but did nothing, Brady said.

Several police officers responded and made Brady and Talebi sit on the curb while they talked to the man, before letting him go. They both said passersby approached officers and tried to tell them what had happened, but they were instructed to “mind their own business” and “keep moving along.”

Then, police instructed Brady and Talebi to leave or face arrest, they said. When Brady and Talebi tried getting the officers’ badge numbers, they were denied and threatened with arrest again.

“An officer said there was nothing he could do about it, and there was nothing we could do about it, and if we got attorneys or went to court, it wouldn’t work out for us,” Brady said.

Citizen’s Business Bank Arena tweeted they were aware of the situation and were investigating. Sue Oxarart, director of marketing and communications for the arena, said in an email Monday that Ontario police are now handling the investigation.

Thank you for sharing this – we do not tolerate this behavior. Our upper management team is aware and are discussing appropriate action. — CBBankArena (@CBBankArena) October 5, 2017

“We are currently conducting an investigation into this incident,” Ontario police Sgt. Jeff Higbee said Monday.

In a telephone message left for a reporter on Saturday, Oct. 7, Sgt. Bill Russell said, “We do not have a police investigation involved in this as the two males that were involved in this were escorted out by event security and we never made contact with the females. So there is no police investigation on our end.”

Men retain High Desert attorneys

Brady and Talebi on Sunday retained the services of Victorville attorneys Sharon Brunner and Jim Terrell.

“They threatened our clients with ‘you leave or you will be arrested,’” Brunner said.

Terrell said the video posted on social media was an attempt to make the perpetrators of a criminal act out to be heroes.

“They videoed (sic) themselves throwing the beverage on an African American,” Terrell said.

“We believe it’s a civil rights issue. It’s a First Amendment right for them (Brady and Talebi) to stand or sing as they like. It’s the obligation of the Citizens Business Bank Arena to provide security to everyone.”

Brunner said the potential defendants in the case are the two women, Citizens Business Bank Arena and the Ontario Police Department.

Brunner and Terrell will be holding a press conference at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at Brunner’s office, 14393 Park Ave., Suite 100, in Victorville.

Cal Baptist students protest, pray

On Monday, between 20 and 30 Cal Baptist students participated in a “Kneel on the Seal” protest on campus — which was actually more of a prayer and support circle.

“I was happy to see people of all different colors and races come and support us,” said 21-year-old senior, Krysta Hawkins. Hawkins organized the protest and prayer session with fellow student, Leti Bernard.

Hawkins noted two administrators shook hands with some of the students who participated in the protest and didn’t try to impede their peaceful event.

“This protest was about bringing awareness to the event and to racism in general, for praying for the girls and as a call to action,” she said.

She was encouraged to see the university’s president had released a statement addressing Wednesday’s incident.

Some students took the time Monday morning to explain and shine a light on what racism looks like and that it’s something that is still prevalent today.

“We were able to explain what it’s like to experience racism to those who have never dealt with it,” she said, adding that her school and its students have been unfairly targeted online.

“I feel like right now because of this one incident,” she said. “I feel like our school is being judged and being looked at in a negative light, but we want to redirect that into another light. We’re going to fight back with positivity in our faith.”

Staff Writer Jim Steinberg contributed to this report.