Warning: Graphic image at bottom of post.
A Cleveland Browns star found himself on the defensive after responding to the fatal police shootings of two black men last week by posting an image that appeared to show a hooded individual slitting the throat of a police officer.
Running back Isaiah Crowell issued several public apologies for making the “extremely poor decision” to share the image on his Instagram feed, according to ESPN.
Crowell posted the photo last week, after Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were killed in police shootings but before a gunman killed five Dallas officers during a Black Lives Matter rally. The image was pulled from his account around one minute after it was posted, according to Yahoo Sports, but screenshots of it drew furious criticism from the Cleveland community.
On Monday, Crowell issued an apology on Twitter, saying he shared the image in response to an “emotional and difficult week.”
“It’s not about color, it’s about what’s right and wrong,” Crowell wrote. “I was very wrong in posting that image.”
While the NFL seemed to find that initial apology sufficient, telling Cleveland.com that Crowell realized the image “was inappropriate and insensitive,” both the Browns and the local police union asked Crowell to go farther.
The team issued a statement on Tuesday saying they had spoken with Crowell about his “extremely distributing and unacceptable” post.
“Isaiah has apologized but also knows that just an apology is insufficient and that he must take steps to make a positive difference after a very negative and impactful post,” the team said in a statement obtained by ESPN.
Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association president Stephen Loomis told Cleveland.com that Crowell needed to make a “grand gesture” to rectify the situation, calling on him to apologize in person to the families of the officers killed in Dallas and donate to them. Loomis said he would order his officers to refuse to work security for the Browns if Crowell did not comply, though Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams said that he accepted the apology Crowell offered him in a telephone call on Tuesday.
In a video posted on TMZ Sports on Wednesday, Crowell said he would follow through with some of the demands requested by Loomis.
“By posting that picture I became part of the problem,” he said in the video. “I don’t want to be part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution. To back that up, my first game check is going to the Dallas Fallen Officers Foundation.”
The foundation was established in 2009 to assist the families of Dallas police injured or killed on duty.
The image Crowell initially shared is posted below:
