Isaiah Crowell apologizes for controversial Instagram post

Isaiah Crowell (Carver High) is embroiled in controversy after posting a photo illustration to his Instagram account that shows a police officer’s throat being slit. The man doing it is hooded like an executioner and wearing all black in the style of terrorists who have beheaded American and British prisoners in videos posted on the internet.

Crowell, a running back for the Cleveland Browns, made the post last Wednesday in response to two black men — Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota — being killed by white police officers.

He made the post before the five police officers were killed in Dallas. This image may be disturbing to some viewers. Click here to view the image.

With the post there was a caption that read “They give police all types of weapons and they continually choose to kill us....#Weak.”

The post was on his account for only a short time before it was taken down.

The NFL and the Browns released statements criticizing Crowell for the post.

“The image was inappropriate and insensitive,’’ NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email response to cleveland.com. “He realized this, took down the post and has since apologized.’’

The Browns’ statement read “It was completely inappropriate and we have made him aware of our high level of disappointment. 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.”

Crowell apologized Monday night on his Twitter account:

“Last week was an emotional and difficult week as we saw extreme acts of violence against black men across our country as well as against police officers in Dallas.

“I posted an image to Instagram in the midst of that emotion that I shouldn’t have and immediately removed it. It was an extremely poor decision and I apologize for that mistake and for offending people.

“My values and beliefs do not match that image. I am outraged and upset by the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile along with so many others. I am also outraged and saddened by the attacks in Dallas and the deaths of the five honorable police officers (Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa) who were providing protection while trying to keep peace.

“We have to be better as a society, it’s not about color, it’s about what’s right and wrong. I was very wrong in posting that image. Every single life matters, every death as a result of violence should be treated with equal outrage and penalty.’’

This story was originally published July 12, 2016 at 8:27 AM with the headline "Isaiah Crowell apologizes for controversial Instagram post."