Greg Suhr was forced to resign from his position as San Francisco Police Chief back in May of last year, after several incidents with his officers came to light, including some racist and homophobic texts, and finally the fatal shooting of an unarmed black woman.
This is why it’s a bit surprising that a seemingly progressive franchise like the Golden State Warriors decided to hire him as a security consultant, as they prepared to break ground on their new arena. The Warriors organization heaped praise on Suhr in their first official statement after his hiring on Tuesday:
“Chief Suhr is an expert on public safety, security issues, event planning and operations, VIP protection, risk assessment, and other related matters,” the team said in an initial statement. “The organization is happy to have him on board.”
This is basically how white privilege works and demonstrates how someone like Donald Trump can become President. Despite a questionable record with police relations in the community, and racist and homophobic texts, the Warriors decided to look past those flaws and hire Greg Suhr anyway. They saw a man who was competent, experienced, and that could get the job done, someone relatable. However, the Warriors ignored painful feelings in the community due to the previous actions of some officers, and slapped part of their fan base in the face with this hire.
After some public pressure from activists and a tweet from Andre Iguodala, the Warriors came to their senses and announced the following:
“The Warriors and former San Francisco Police Department Chief Greg Suhr have mutually agreed to discontinue his consultant arrangement with the organization, effective immediately.”
Ex- SFPD Chief Greg Suhr added:
The last thing I want to do is cause a distraction for the Warriors during this incredibly positive time for the team and organization,” Suhr said in a statement. “I think this is in the best interest of everyone.”
The Warriors organization did the right thing eventually, and may have received push back from Warriors players that forced Suhr’s firing. The problem here is that with so much attention given to police and community relations over the past few years, Suhr should have never been hired in the first place.
Flip the page to see what Andre Iguodala tweeted when he found out Greg Suhr was hired by the Warriors.