SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners on Friday announced that catcher Steve Clevenger would be suspended without pay for the remainder of the season after some recent controversial tweets.
Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto made the announcement, saying:
Clevenger apologized Thursday night for his tweets on police shootings and protests, saying that he is "sickened ... that anyone would think of me in racist terms."
Earlier in the day, Clevenger posted two tweets referring to the recent controversy over police shootings, particularly to the protests taking place in Charlotte, N.C.:
“Black people beating whites when a thug got shot holding a gun by a black officer haha (expletive) cracks me up! Keep kneeling for the Anthem!” read one.
“BLM is pathetic once again! Obama you are pathetic once again! Everyone involved should be locked behind bars like animals!” read the other.
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M`s catcher apologizes for racially charged tweets on police shootings
M`s catcher apologizes for racially charged tweets on police shootings
The tweets set off a firestorm on social media, and the Seattle Mariners released a statement Thursday night saying they were “very disappointed” with the two tweets sent out by Clevenger.
“While he is certainly free to express himself, his tweets do not in any way represent the opinions of the Seattle Mariners,” the statement reads. “We strongly disagree with the language and tone of his comments.”
The Mariners said they were “examining all internal options that are available to us” in response to the tweets.
Later Thursday night, Clevenger issued an apology with this statement: