Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell, 23, is under fire for a grotesque image posted on Instagram showing a man dressed in all black slitting the throat of a police officer. It is a disgusting image that few of us would have even contemplated showing to another person, let alone posting on social media. Yet, Crowell posted the image with a statement “Mood: They give polices all types of weapons and they continuously choose to kill us…(hashtag)Weak” After an immediate outcry, Crowell removed the image and insisted issued a long statement that sounded like it was the product of a room of panicked NFL and Browns lawyers. The question is now the response of the NFL to the posting. Update: Notably, the first black Miss Alabama was suspended on Tuesday for calling Micah Johnson a “martyr” for killing the five police officers.
Warning the image below is graphic and disturbing.
In fairness to Crowell, this picture has gone viral and was not his creation. However, he saw it and liked it enough to post it.
Here is the posting:
Crowell posted the image after Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana were fatally shot by police. It was before five police officers were killed in Dallas. However, none of that is an excuse for the posting of this type of horrific, hateful image. Nevertheless, a statement was issued for Crowell that was markedly different in tone and message:
“Last week was an emotional and difficult week as we saw extreme acts of violence against black men across our country as well as against police officers in Dallas. I posted an image to Instagram in the midst of that emotion that I shouldn’t have and immediately removed it. It was an extremely poor decision and I apologize for that mistake and for offending people. My values and beliefs do not match that image.
I am outraged and upset by the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile along with so many others. I am also outraged and saddened by the attacks in Dallas and the deaths of the five 5 honorable police officers (Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson, and Patrick Zamarripa) who were providing protection while trying to keep peace. We have to be better as a society, it’s not about color, it’s about what’s right and wrong. I was very wrong in posting that image. Every single life matters, every death as a result of violence should be treated with equal outrage and penalty.”
Forgive me if I am not satisfied by that spin. There are no circumstances where the use of an ISIS-like image of killing police would be understandable or justified. Yet, there was a notable lapse in a response from the NFL or the Browns. Pray tell, if the posting showed the beating of woman or killing of a minority, would there be such an initial ambivalent response?
Crowell has a first amendment right to make a complete ass out of himself. However, the team and the NFL have contractual rights to separate themselves from an athlete who feels the necessity of posting images of the slitting of the throats of police officers. When crowds or fans threaten Crowell, he appears to have little thought of the line of officers protecting him. Instead, he wants his large following on social media to see an image of a helpless police officer having his throat slit.
It is certainly true that the third-year running back led the Browns in rushing last season with 706 yards. However, for many of us, this posting says more about the man than each of those yards. After Johnny Manziel, the Browns appear to have a knack for selecting players with a wealth of talent and a paucity of maturity. That is not unique of course but the NFL should remember that that thin blue line around their stadiums and free golf tournaments are wearing the same uniform as the man bleeding out in Crowell’s posting. It is the same uniform worn by Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson, and Patrick Zamarripa.
Assuming that the NFL or the Browns eventually act, what do you think should be the punishment? Does this warrant the loss of a contract or suspension in your view?
@Steg
Thanks! What I said was pretty raw, but I just cut through all the bull manure about this issue. The reality is that the more the BLM idiots pull this crap, the more white people are going to catch on to the truth. Or not.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
It was a pointed, truthful comment, Squeeky. I got to read it. Here is a cartoon MLK speech that I’ve posted before here. It is a great speech:
Well, my “N word” comment got zapped, but I think what I said was right on point, and very germane. Our reluctance to confront the very existence of “feral sociopathic blacks” is on a par with fighting the War on Terror without admitting the existence of Radical Islamic Jihadists. There is a reason for all the “disparities”, and not dealing with it, isn’t going to resolve the problem.
What I said can be zapped here, because that is the right of the people who run this blog. But it will not change the underlying truth. What I said is the famed conversation about race that everybody is afraid to have. That fear obviously continues.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
BettyKath
….Apologists for Black racism and murders committed by them also contribute to growing anger.
The more lame excuses that surface, the more anger all around.
Lifetime NFL ban is in order. Or are gang-bangers and terrorist running the league?
“Until we’ve lived one day in the shoes of an African-American, us white folk have no dog in this fight.”
And they in turn cannot say anything about whites, not having lived in our shoes.
” an emotional reaction to more Blacks being killed by police. The anger is growing.”
1. Read above; more whites are killed by cops and by blacks.
2. So you believe blacks are unable to control their emotions?
Racist!
Steve Groen….If you have an employee who spews out odious racist garbage, you may choose to end your association with that employee.
Or maybe you’d see it as a free speech issue, and keep that employee on.
Whatever you’d chose to do, you WILL BE associated with, and affected by, that employee’s actions.
tnash: That’s true, but I also reserve sentiment and respect for his position and his ability to communicate it outside of the workplace. The NFL is a different species from most employers, and I believe work behavior must conform to that required of the employer (including having boobs at Hooters), but outside of work is an entirely different story unless one voluntarily and knowledgeably signs a contract which requires conformity outside of work as well.
“what sentence would you impose on the Minnesota Archdiocese?””
The same one that’s imposed on public school teachers, whose rates of abuse are far higher.
His retweet or whatever was an emotional reaction to more Blacks being killed by police. The anger is growing.
Oh, let’s blame the Cleveland Browns for someone asserting his right to free speech! Sheesh. Talk about white-guy double standards.
Until we’ve lived one day in the shoes of an African-American, us white folk have no dog in this fight.
KCFleming: what sentence would you impose on the Minnesota Archdiocese?
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/catholic-church/
Steve – when Tiger Woods got in trouble, he lost a lot of his sponsorships. Cost him a lot of money. This is a topic we have discussed on this blog before. My stand is that the business has the right to get rid of the employee if it reflects badly on their business.
I agree, Paul, but only if it’s part of their contract, and, by the way, if I had to guess, Tiger wasn’t an employee. He was an independent contractor/advertiser for Nike products.
Steve – I think golfers would be considered independent contractors except that they have to participate in X number of tournaments each year to keep their card. If I remember correctly, Nike was the only one who did not drop him immediately.
There is a problem in America when we pay so much money to go see some dumb football or basketball game. The players can not read or write and they have college degrees because they went to LSU and went in dumb, come out dumb too. They are hustlin round Atlanta in their alligator shoes. They are keeping the robots down.
Obama has difficulty untangling his shoelaces, too.
” Maybe a bigger punishment for this sh!tbird is to make him continue to play for the Browns.”
Ha. I’d trade him to the Vikings, and buy him a house next to Gov. Dayton.
KC FLEMING …President Obama noted the complexities of “untangling the motives” of the Dallas shooter.
This doesn’t appear to be rocket science, whether it’s “untangling the motives” of the South Carolina murderer who slaughtered the Black church members, or the shooter in Dallas.
There appeared to be a “more nuanced” position by the President in the case of the later.
The race card may save this guy w/ the NFL. Of course, under the basic agreement, the Browns can terminate his employment. But, there will be a barrister playing the race card. Bet on that.
Great comment KCF. Maybe a bigger punishment for this sh!tbird is to make him continue to play for the Browns. Or worse yet, trade him the the Bears and make him a blocking back for Jay Cutler.
Carol Frazier…..
Meant to say a quick review of crime in these areas would at least partially answer your question.
KC Fleming – amen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/upshot/surprising-new-evidence-shows-bias-in-police-use-of-force-but-not-in-shootings.html?&target=comments&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&modref=HPCommentsRefer&clickSource=story-heading&module=a-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#commentsContainer
The best thing about the Obama administration has been all the racial healing.
MN Governor Dayton did something equally stupid, by calling the police shooting of Philando Castile racist (““Would this have happened if the driver were white, if the passengers were white?” “). The cop, Jeronimo Yanez, is Mexican.
As a result, a BLM protest late Saturday and early Sunday on Interstate 94 in St. Paul closed the highway for 7-8 hours and then turned into a riot, with 21 police officers injured and more than 100 people arrested. They pelted officers with rocks, bottles and rebar.
Dayton was far more culpable than this running back, but no one is asking him to resign.