Professional athletes protest police shooting of Jacob Blake

The scoreboard read "Equality" as a Toronto Blue Jays player run in the outfield at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, Thursday, August 27.

Today’s game between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays has been postponed – the fourth game so far for the day to be postponed.

Here is the joint statement from both teams: 

Other MLB games postponed Thursday are: A’s-Rangers, Phillies-Nationals and Twins-Tigers.

The National Hockey League has announced that the next four scheduled playoff games have been postponed in wake of the Jacob Blake shooting Sunday by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The decision effects each of the eight teams remaining in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Tonight’s Flyers vs. Islanders and Golden Knights vs. Canucks games are off as well as Friday night’s Lightning vs. Bruins and Avalanche vs. Stars games.

Earlier Thursday, San Jose Sharks winger Evander Kane, who is co-head of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, tweeted that the alliance had formally requested the NHL to suspend Thursday’s games.

In the NHL’s statement Thursday, the league said, “After much discussion, NHL Players believe that the best course of action would be to take a step back and not play tonight’s and tomorrow’s games as scheduled.”

“Black and brown communities continue to face real, painful experiences. The NHL and [player’s union] recognize that much work remains to be done before we can play an appropriate role in a discussion centered on diversity, inclusion and social justice,” the league said.

The Oakland A’s players have announced they will not take the field on Thursday night for their game against the Texas Rangers in hopes of raising awareness on social issues following the shooting of Jacob Blake. 

In a statement, the players announced, “We will not take the field tonight to help raise awareness for these social issues, not just tonight, but for our collective future. This is the first step in our relentless pursuit for meaningful change.”

The team said this is the first step in a “relentless pursuit for meaningful change.”

The Rangers responded to the A’s decision saying in a statement, “We respect the decision by the Oakland A’s players to postpone tonight’s game. We stand with all those who condemn racial injustice and are committed to helping bring about an end to systemic racism.”

The postponement of the A’s-Rangers game is one of three MLB games called off Thursday night. The Philadelphia Phillies-Washington Nationals and Minnesota Twins-Detroit Tigers games were also postponed.

Read the full statement:

The NFL and NFL Players Association have released a joint statement Thursday regarding the shooting of Jacob Blake, saying both organizations share in the “anger and frustration” the country is feeling.

Elizabeth Williams

Elizabeth Williams, an Atlanta Dream all-star and the secretary of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, said it was important for the WNBA to stand in solidarity after the shooting of Jacob Blake.

“After seeing Bucks decision and what our NBA counterparts had done, we thought it was important to stand in solidarity with them and to not play the games yesterday and today,” she told CNN on Thursday.

Some background: The Bucks game against the Orlando Magic was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday, but the team did not come out their locker room before the scheduled tip.

Within hours, three WNBA, five Major League Soccer and three Major League Baseball games were called off as athletes acted in solidarity with the Bucks’ players.

Williams said professional athletes, specifically those in the NBA and WNBA, always knew they had an opportunity to speak out and get attention for social issues.

Williams said moving forward the goal is to make policy changes on the local level, not just nationally.

“Those are ways people start to see big changes,” she said.

As a statement from the Milwaukee Bucks’ players calls for justice for Jacob Blake and demands that officers be held accountable, The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill says she thinks the team is sending a message to America:

Sports players have been trying to draw attention to social issues like police violence for a long time now, she told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

“The reality is that the players have been trying to sort of sweet-talk America into caring about this issue. I mean, they’ve worn t-shirts. You see that their court is painted with Black Lives Matter,” she said. “And for them, the reward was seeing what happened with Jacob Blake.”

“Finally, I think they reached their boiling point,” Hill said.

The boycott from the Bucks also came exactly four years after San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick sat for the national anthem and protested against police brutality and racial inequality. He was ostracized for his actions and hasn’t played in any football seasons since.

However, this time, professional athletes across the country are standing in solidarity and protesting. The NBA announced it would postpone Game 5 of three different playoff series because of the boycotts. Three WNBA, five Major League Soccer and three Major League Baseball games have also been called off.

“Colin Kaepernick gave them a particular blueprint, in which they saw that meaningful change or at least some very serious and uncomfortable conversations could come from just a gesture. And they sort of added their own emphasis to what Colin Kaepernick did,” Hill said.

However, she pointed to Milwaukee Bucks’ Sterling Brown’s own history with police violence. Brown sued the Milwaukee police over use of excessive force during an encounter, saying he was tased.

“They nearly broke one of his limbs after an encounter over him parking his car across two handicap spaces outside of a Walgreens. So this issue wasn’t just about Colin Kaepernick,” she said. “This is about these players having very personal experiences with police violence.”

The Minnesota Twins players have decided to not play against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night.

The team said it stands behind the players’ decision and refers to the killing of George Floyd along with the shooting of Jacob Blake as to reasons why the team remains “committed to using our platforms to push for racial justice and equality.”

The postponement of the Twins-Tigers game is one of three MLB games called off Thursday night. The Oakland A’s-Texas Rangers and the Philadelphia Phillies-Washington Nationals were also postponed.  

Read the Twins full statement: 

The Tennessee Titans are one of many NFL teams who decided to cancel Thursday practice to focus on concerns surrounding a lack of action to fix systemic racism and social injustice.  

After the meeting, the team appeared en masse to create a post for Twitter, with safety Kevin Byard and quarterback Ryan Tannehill as the speakers. 

“We had a lot of constructive conversations,” Byard says in the video. “But as we went to our team meeting, and as with the entire team, we felt as players and as an entire organization, that it was right to not practice today.”

Byard closed his remarks by saying, “I have a one-year-old daughter, and I have no clue what I’m going to tell them what kind of world they’re going to grow up in in this country. And I’m begging and pleading…spilling my heart out to say that we need change, and we need change as soon as possible.” 

Tannehill said he and his teammates are sick of the systemic racism and oppression: “We’re tired of dealing with excessive force. We’re tired of seeing Black men and women die in situations where they should be walking home and spending the night with their families.” 

Watch the video:

 Jean Segura of the Philadelphia Phillies forces out Howie Kendrick of the Washington Nationals at second base in the fourth inning during a baseball game at Nationals Park on Wednesday, August 26, in Washington.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals have released a joint statement saying that players from both teams decided to not play their scheduled game on Thursday.

“The Phillies and Nationals players have collectively decided to postpone tonight’s game,” the statement said. 

Dell Loy Hansen

Real Salt Lake soccer club owner Dell Loy Hansen said he felt disrespected by his players after they decided to not play their scheduled game Wednesday night game against Los Angeles FC.

Speaking on the Salt Lake City radio show “Radio From Hell” on Thursday, Hansen said, “It’s like someone stabbed you and then you’re trying to figure out a way to pull the knife out and move forward. That’s what it feels like. The disrespect was profound to me personally.”

Hansen said he was particularly disappointed after so much effort was made to prepare Rio Tino Stadium for spectators to finally attend a home game. 

Major League Soccer postponed five matches on Wednesday once it became clear players from the ten teams would not take the field following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday. 

Hansen has gotten criticism for his comments including a tweet from MLS star Jozy Altidore, who wrote, “He needs to sell the team then. I’m involved in a group that’s ready to purchase it. Time for change.”