Seattle, WA – Exactly one year before President Trump called for NFL teams to fire their players who kneeled for the national anthem, Steve Clevenger tweeted criticism of Black Lives Matter. Immediately afterwards, he was disciplined by being “suspended for the rest of the season” and never hired again.

At the time he was fired, the kneeling had already started, but he didn’t get a pass because his tweets were deemed to be racist.

Clevenger has spent his time since then trying to apologize, according to Baltimore Sun.

“My words were wrong. I regret every day that I wrote it, and I wish I could take it back,” Clevenger told Yahoo Sports. “They were harsh. They were mean. They angered a lot of people. And I’m sorry for it. I can only ask for forgiveness.”

“I wasn’t raised to be a racist,” he said. “My family isn’t racist. Nobody I’m involved with is racist. I don’t condone it. I don’t agree with hating people. That’s not me. That’s not who I am. That’s not something I’m OK with supporting.”

You can see our original story on the suspension, which turned into a firing, below:

Seattle, WA – Seattle Mariner Steve Clevenger was suspended without pay for the rest of the season for criticizing Black Lives Matter and President Obama on Twitter. While major sports stars are disrespecting our country, military heroes, and police, this is what happens when somebody speaks out against Black Lives Matter.

Steve Clevenger is a backup catcher who has been batting .221 this season for the Seattle Mariners.

His game performance appears to mean little to his team after they suspended him without pay for the rest of the season.

Clevenger tweeted out a couple of tweets on Thursday which quickly prompted backlash in the ultra-liberal city of Seattle. After the backlash started, Clevenger locked down his privacy settings to keep people out. His tweets read:

“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!”

“BLM (Black Lives Matter) is pathetic again! Obama you are pathetic once again! Everyone should be locked behind bars like animals!”

Those tweets got Steve Clevenger suspended without pay for the rest of the season while other sports stars say far worse things about police on a daily basis.

Clevenger was reacting to the violent attacks on innocent people by rioters in Charlotte. The rioters assaulted random white people. Those attacks included an attempt to burn a photographer alive and an assault on a CNN reporter while he was on live TV.

The riots were sparked by a black officer shooting a black man armed with a gun after they ordered him to drop his gun over 16 times and he continued to advance on officers.

Black Lives Matter “activists” spread lies that the suspect, Keith Scott, was shot by a white officer for being black, he wasn’t armed, and he was only reading a book when he was shot. The lies of Black Lives Matter and the Scott family incited the riots, and it’s something that any decent person should be upset about.

The Seattle Mariners were quick to respond:

“The Seattle Mariners are very disappointed at the tweets posted on Steve Clevenger’s account. While he is certainly 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.”

Steve Clevenger immediately responded with an apology:

“First and foremost I would like to apologize to the Seattle Mariners, my teammates, my family and the fans of our great game 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. 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.

I grew up on the streets of Baltimore, a city I love to this very day. I grew up in a very culturally diverse area of America and I am very proud to come from there. I am also proud that my inner circle of friends has never been defined by race but by the content of their character.

Any former teammate or anyone who has met me can attest to this and I pride myself on not being a judgemental person. I just ask that the public not judge me because of an ill worded tweet.

I do believe that supporting our First Amendment rights and supporting local law enforcement are not mutually exclusive. With everything going on in the world I really just want what is best for everyone regardless of who they are.

I like many Americans are frustrated by a lot of things in the world and I would like to be a part of the dialogue moving forward to make this a better world for everyone.

I once again apologize to anyone who was offended today and I just ask you not judge me off of a social media posting. Thank you and God bless everyone.”

The Mariners then showed how “free” Steve Clevenger was to “express himself” by suspending him from the team.

Where are all of the Black Lives Matter supporters who claimed that all Americans were required to support Colin Kaepernick because he was just exercising his constitutional rights?

Our partners at Warrior 12, who print our Blue Lives Matter shirts, have launched a limited edition pre-order Stand For The Flag shirt so that can proudly display that you don’t kneel.

​

You can get your Stand For The Flag shirt HERE.