Clown wearing Obama mask at Missouri rodeo banned

The Missouri State Fair has banned the unnamed clown who wore a mask mocking President Barack Obama on Saturday from ever performing at the fair again.

Neither fair officials or the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association, which sponsored the event, revealed the name of the man behind the mask.

The fair said it was investigating whether to take action against the contractor and demanded the MRCA "hold all those responsible for this offensive stunt accountable." The MRCA also must prove "all officials and subcontractors have successfully participated in sensitivity training" should they ever wish to sponsor a state fair rodeo again.

Both the state fair and the MRCA released statements condemning the incident Sunday.

The groups' actions came after word of the incident spread after a video was posted online, coming from social media as well as state and local officials.

MRCA president Mark Ficken, speaking through an attorney, blamed the incident on a "rogue rodeo clown" who was wearing a live microphone. He claims he did not know about the stunt in advance, in which the clown goaded the crowd into cheering for the bull to run "Obama" down, and said he only said to "watch out for that bull, Obama!" as a warning.