Mariners Reviewing Options After Steve Clevenger's Black Lives Matter Tweets
SEATTLE (AP) — The Mariners say they are reviewing "all internal options that are available" after tweets from the account of reserve catcher Steve Clevenger regarding a recent police shooting in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Black Lives Matter movement.
General manager Jerry Dipoto issued a brief statement on Thursday night, saying the club is "very disappointed" and that while Clevenger is free to express himself, "his tweets do not in any way represent the opinions of the Seattle Mariners. We strongly disagree with the language and tone of his comments."
Clevenger's Twitter account was changed to private Thursday night. Screen shots of the tweets showed Clevenger made disparaging comments about protesters and President Barack Obama, saying "everyone involved should be locked behind bars like animals!"
#Mariners say they are "looking into" controversial tweets coming pitcher Steve Clevenger's account screencapped by @cablebox666: pic.twitter.com/RcWNdqflGV
— jonhumbert (@jonhumbert) September 22, 2016
Clevenger released a statement to Fox Sports late Thursday night apologizing for "the distraction my tweets on my personal twitter page caused when they went public earlier today.
"I am sickened by the idea that anyone would think of me in racist terms," continued Clevenger's statement. "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."
The team said it would have no further comment at this time.
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