Washington Commanders Ridiculed for Trying to Distract from AG Investigation By Raising Crime in D.C.
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The Washington Commanders were criticized on Twitter after the team released a statement about crime in Washington D.C. to pivot from the D.C. Attorney General’s investigation into their allegedly toxic workplace.
The investigation into the Commanders started with a 2020 report from the Washington Post that exploited a toxic work environment that included numerous sexual harassment claims under owner Dan Snyder‘s watch. The investigation turned to potential fiduciary violations.
Snyder’s Commanders released a statement after D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine tweeted that there would be a press conference on Thursday to “make a major announcement” about the organization.
Running back Brian Robinson was shot in August, and someone in the Commanders’ public relations department felt it necessary to bring up his unfortunate situation — in an effort to deflect from the issues surrounding the team.
The Commanders’ statement read:
Less than three months ago, a 23-year-old player on our team was shot multiple times, in broad daylight. Despite the out-of-control violent crime in DC, today the Washington Commanders learned for the first time on Twitter that the D.C. Attorney General will be holding a press conference to “make a major announcement” related to the organization tomorrow.
The Commanders have fully cooperated with the A.G.’s investigation for nearly a year. As recently as Monday, a lawyer for the team met with the A.G. who did not suggest at that time that he intended to take any action and, in fact, revealed fundamental misunderstandings of the underlying facts. It is unfortunate that, in his final days in office, Mr. Racine appears more interested in making splashy headlines, based on offbeat legal theories, rather than doing the hard work of making the streets safe for our citizens, including bringing to justice the people who shot one of our players.
Robinson’s agent, Ryan Williams, did not appreciate the Commanders invoking his client to deflect from the investigation.
Up until an hour ago, the Commanders handled the Brian Robinson situation with so much care, sincerity and class. And I was grateful for all of it.
Although I know that there are some great humans in that building, whoever is hiding behind this statement is not one of them.
Other observers on social media did not react kindly to the Commanders’ statement either;
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