The five major professional sports leagues have not commented on whether they will honor two black police officers who were shot and killed this summer, one of who was shot in the head by a white man.
Sports leagues ranging from the NFL to the NHL have pledged their support for black Americans amid nationwide protests against perceived systemic racism. Just this week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pledged that “the NFL stands with the black community.”
“We will not relent in our work,” he added.
Goodell’s comments come just days after black St. Louis police officer Tamarris Bohannon was shot in the head on Saturday, dying the following day.
In June, retired St. Louis police Capt. David Dorn was shot and killed during riots that spread over the country sparked by the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day.
The Washington Examiner reached out to professional leagues and received no answer on whether they would honor Bohannon or Dorn. The NHL, NFL, MLS, and NBA did not respond to email requests for comment. The MLB did not respond to the request for comment, instead directing the Washington Examiner to the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Dorn and Bohannon’s names also yielded no search results on the leagues’ websites.
Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik took notice of the lack of support for the black officers who were killed, noting that the suspect in Bohannon’s case is white.
“So a white guy shoots and kills a black cop – father of three – and there isn’t a word from #BlackLivesMatter, the @NBA, @NFL, @NHL, and @MLB. But if a cop kills a black career criminal or sex offender, they want to burn the city down. Think about that for a minute!” Kerik tweeted this week.
So a white guy shoots and kills a black cop – father of three – and there isn’t a word from #BlackLivesMatter, the @NBA, @NFL, @NHL, and @MLB. But if a cop kills a black career criminal or sex offender, they want to burn the city down. Think about that for a minute! pic.twitter.com/ZHGdhnnBkk
— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) September 2, 2020
At least one player, Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Tyler Eifert, will honor Dorn on his helmet this season. Additionally, a St. Louis Cardinals official told the Washington Examiner that the team will hold a “memorial tribute on our social media channels for Officer Bohannon” this weekend and will be making a donation to the officer’s family.
Players and the leagues overwhelmingly, however, have focused on using their high-status platforms to denounce the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, Georgia, and George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“I’m so proud of everyone across our league and others who have taken a stand using their voices and platforms to continue to shine the spotlight on things that must change. By listening and working and understanding with our players, we built the foundation for tangible change through our Inspire Change initiative,” Goodell said this week.
NBA superstar LeBron James is among the most prominent sports players advocating for Black Lives Matter, saying that black people in America are “terrified” of being killed and that considerable changes need to be made to end racism.
“I know people get tired of hearing me say it. But we are scared as black people in America. Black men, black women, black kids, we are terrified,” he said this summer.
A search of James’s Twitter account shows zero results for tweets mentioning either Dorn or Bohannon.
His account, however, does advocate for an overhaul of police policies in the wake of Blake’s shooting and other similar instances.
“And y’all wonder why we say what we say about the Police!! Someone please tell me WTF is this???!!! Exactly another black man being targeted. This shit is so wrong and so sad!! Feel so sorry for him, his family and OUR PEOPLE!! We want JUSTICE,” he wrote in August.
And y’all wonder why we say what we say about the Police!! Someone please tell me WTF is this???!!! Exactly another black man being targeted. This shit is so wrong and so sad!! Feel so sorry for him, his family and OUR PEOPLE!! We want JUSTICE https://t.co/cJxOj1EZ3H
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 24, 2020
Blake was shot multiple times on Aug. 23 during an arrest for violating a restraining order after he reached into his car. Police had already tried to subdue him with a Taser.
He is facing criminal charges from a May 3 incident, when he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman he knew for eight years and had a restraining order from being present at the woman’s home.
Blake confessed to police that he had a knife when he was shot, and law enforcement officers reported that he “forcefully fought” them during the August interaction.
His lawyer, however, said that he was shot while checking on his children, who were in the car at the time of the shooting.
Blake “did nothing to provoke police” and was “only intending to get his children out of a volatile situation,” lawyer Ben Crump argued.
The shooting reignited the base of Black Lives Matter, among others, calling for an overhaul of police departments. Riots erupted in Kenosha, leading to the death of two people. Other cities, such as Portland and Seattle, have seen continued riots this summer, resulting in multiple shootings, deaths, claims of sexual assault, assaults on officers, and other acts of violence.
In the case of Dorn, his widow made public statements denouncing the violence during her speech at the Republican National Convention.
“I relive that horror in my mind every single day,” Ann Dorn said. “My hope is that having you relive it with me now will help shake this country from the nightmare we are witnessing in our cities and bring about positive, peaceful change.”
