Mariners suspend Clevenger for tweets

That didn’t take long.

"The Seattle Mariners has suspended catcher Steve Clevenger for the remainder of the Major League Baseball season over controversial tweets in which he called the Black Lives Matter movement and President Barack Obama 'pathetic.'

"Clevenger posted a series of comments on Twitter on Thursday, two days after Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man, was fatally shot by police in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"The Mariners catcher appeared to suggest that those protesting against Scott’s shooting should be locked up 'like animals.' He also mocked athletes who have been protesting by kneeling during the national anthem at sports events.

"'Black people beating whites when a thug got shot holding a gun by a black officer haha s--t cracks me up! Keep kneeling for the anthem!' Clevenger tweeted on Thursday.

"'BLM is pathetic once again! Obama is pathetic once again! Everyone involved should be locked behind bars like animals,' another tweet from his account read.

"Several Twitter users captured screen grabs of the posts. Clevenger has since made his account private."

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto: “As soon as we became aware of the tweets posted by Steve yesterday we began to examine all of our options in regard to his standing on the team. Today we have informed him that he is suspended for the remainder of the season without pay.”


http://abcnews.go.com/US/seattle-mariners-suspend-steve-clevenger-tweets-labeling-black/story?id=42327292

Clevenger said his comments were “beyond poorly worded” but not racist, rather reaction to recent events in the news.

Everybody has the right to free speech. And team bosses have the right to suspend or trade or release a player for just about any reason.

Waiting for the player's union to protest "without pay" part of the suspension. Waiting ... Waiting ...