The National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins admitted to editing a picture to remove a police department logo off the shirt of one of the team’s players before posting it on social media.
In an email statement, team President Cam Neely confirmed that the team edited a Boston Police Department logo off the shirt of forward Charlie Coyle, explaining that the team was trying to protect him from “unfair criticism,” according to Outkick.
The online sports outlet Turtleboy Sports first noticed the removal of the logo last week in photos of Boston Bruins players during a game of pickup basketball. Coyle’s shirt has a logo on the video posted on the team’s Twitter page but not in the close-up photos posted on the team’s social media.
“This was not meant as a sign of disrespect in any way,” Neely’s statement continued. “We are sorry that the logo was removed and we apologize to the BPD and the player.”
The team currently has visible posts on Instagram celebrating players wearing T-shirts with Black Lives Matter messaging.
The NHL has posted pro-Black Lives Matter messaging on its social media accounts several times, including on Aug. 1, when the league posted a video tribute to George Floyd saying, “Together, we must be part of the movement to end racism. Together, #WeSkateFor Black Lives.”
Together, we must be part of the movement to end racism. Together, #WeSkateFor Black Lives. pic.twitter.com/1hakp5oOQE
— NHL (@NHL) August 2, 2020
The removal of pro-police imagery comes as police departments across the country are being criticized, defunded, and disbanded following the civil unrest that has resulted from the death of Floyd on May 25.
At first, all NHL hockey players stood for the national anthem, rejecting kneeling trends in Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. The Minnesota Wild’s Matt Dumba became the first player to kneel before a game last Saturday in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, citing specifically the name of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this year.
