Major League Baseball has suspended veteran journeyman Steve Clevenger for the remainder of the season after he tweeted statements deemed racially insensitive on Thursday night [September 22]. Shortly after posting the comments, which referred to police-shooting victim Keith Lamont Scott as a "thug," and chunked President Obama and supporters of Black Lives Matter in together as a group which he suggested should be imprisoned, they went viral and led to a backlash against the Seattle Mariners catcher.
“Black people beating whites when a thug got shot holding a gun by a black officer haha s*** cracks me up. Keep kneeling for the Anthem!,” Clevenger wrote, in reference to spats of violence which have broke out during protests that have shut down Downtown Charlotte over the past few nights. He then took it a step further, tweeting, “[Black Lives Matter] is pathetic once again! Obama you are pathetic once again! Everyone involved should be locked behind bars like animals!”
Within hours of learning of the remarks, the Seattle Mariners put out a statement condemning Clevenger, and clarifying that they are not representative of the organization. Clevenger would later apologize through a statement in which he said, "I am sickened by the idea that anyone would think of me in racist terms. My tweets were reactionary to the events I saw on the news and were worded beyond poorly at best and I can see how and why someone could read into my tweets far more deeply than how I actually feel."
Source: si.com
