USC revokes season tickets, terminates relationship with football booster who sent racist tweets promoting gun violence
Update: June 1 – 1:30 p.m. ET
USC has revoked the season ticket and Trojan Athletic Fund membership privileges from football booster Marla Brown after her series of tweets Sunday night.
In a statement, USC athletic director Mike Bohn said the university quickly investigated the matter and that Brown’s account has been flagged to ensure she cannot make future purchases.
“Thank you to the USC community for helping us identify this individual so that we could move to swiftly terminate our relationship,” Bohn said. “We stand in solidarity with the Black community.”
Bohn’s full statement is below:
Racism and hate speech will not be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/Ariz9zkdJ1
— Mike Bohn (@USC_mikebohn) June 1, 2020
Original story: May 31 - 11:20 p.m. ET
Former USC wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., currently with the Indianapolis Colts, was not happy to see his face on a few tweets advocating for the shooting of protesters following the death of George Floyd.
Those tweets belonged to an account by the name of Marla Brown, who claimed on her Twitter profile to be an attorney of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, a union of the LA Police Department. Her profile picture was a photo of her and the Trojans All-American.
So he publicly asked her to change it.
@SoCalMAB if you truly believe the things you have said, I politely ask you to take me out of your profile picture. This is disappointing, I know my true Trojan family would never. In times like this, it is important for us to stand together. https://t.co/CH5aVAwiTz
— MPJ (@MikePitt_Jr) June 1, 2020
In the tweets, Brown had advocated for the shooting of protesters in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Her profile also includes tweets and retweets calling for charging ever protester in Minneapolis with domestic terrorism and shooting looters.
Brown soon replied to Pittman saying her tweets were made in a “fit of anger” and called them “a stupid thing to say.” However, at least two of the "stupid" tweets are still up hours later. Brown’s photo with Pittman also remains her profile picture.
My remarks were made in a fit of anger at circumstances in general. It was a stupid thing to say. And wasn’t directed at anyone’s race. Just upset at all the destruction.
— SoCalMAB (@SoCalMAB) June 1, 2020
The one thing Brown did actually apologize for was representing herself as a current LAPD union attorney, as she said she had not held the job for a while.
More from Yahoo Sports:
