Dallas, TX – The new chief executive officer of the Dallas Mavericks learned the hard way that she is completely clueless about what Dallas police officers have had to deal with, when she was turned away trying to deliver breakfast and a donation to Dallas police headquarters on Wednesday morning.
Many Dallas officers were outraged by a mass email sent to Dallas Police Department officers from Mavericks’ CEO Cynthia Marshall introducing her # BB725 that explained the “7-25” date of the event with the phrase “2 died because they were black, 5 died because they wore blue,” KTVT reported.
Dallas police said they found the description offensive and asked why Marshall’s event failed to honor the three Baton Rouge officers who died in an ambush a week after the attack on officers in Dallas during a Black Lives Matter demonstration.
Marshall played dumb in front of reporters and tried to blame the rebuff of her efforts on racism, the Dallas Morning News reported.
"It's unfortunate that someone is offended because we have young black men who are racially profiled and getting killed," Marshall told KTVT.
Marshall said she started the # BB725 movement two years ago, after five Dallas police officers were killed during protests over the deaths of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile who had been killed in other cities, KTVT reported.
Marshall said that Sterling and Castile died because they were black, and the five Dallas officers were killed because they wore blue.
That’s why Marshall encouraged everyone to wear black and blue in memory of all of the men in one unified statement, she told KTVT.
Unfortunately, Marshall was far off the mark. Numerous Dallas police officers were not interested in lumping Sterling and Castile in with murdered heroes.
Alton Sterling was fatally shot by police while actively trying to kill police officers after he was contacted for brandishing his gun. The shooting was determined to be justified by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Louisiana Attorney General also called the shooting "well founded and reasonable."
Philando Castile was shot while high on drugs and not listening to Officer Jeronimo Yanez's commands not to reach towards his gun. Officer Yanez was later acquitted by a jury.
Neither Sterling or Castile were shot "because they were black," but this false belief contributed to the motive of a terrorist who assassinated five Dallas officers, and wounded nine others. It also contributed to the motive of a second terrorist who assassinated three officers in Baton Rouge, and wounded three more.
Saying that Sterling and Castile were shot because of their skin color only perpetuates the same myth that got officers killed.
Dallas police notified Marshall that they were rejecting her offer to bring breakfast to headquarters and make a donation because officers were offended by her attempt to combine a memorial for both police officers who had been murdered in the line of duty, and men who had been shot by police.
Marshall was undeterred by the rebuff from the police, and showed up at Dallas PD headquarters on Wednesday morning with a group of about 10 people, and observed a moment of silence, KTVT reported.
They brought breakfast and a donation of $7,250 with them, but regardless of their offering, they were asked to leave.
Marshall told the KTVT that her group was turned away at the door to police headquarters because of its controversial nature.
A police spokeswoman said in a written statement that the event was canceled "in response to internal member feedback and the current mood within our organization," the Dallas Morning News reported.
The police department said it had communicated directly with the Mavericks leadership early on Wednesday to explain the problem.
Officers told KTVT that they support the mission, but not the language, behind Marshall’s efforts.
Still, Marshal didn’t seem to “get it.”
She shared a picture on Twitter of herself posing with two Dallas officers at an earlier Mavericks game.
“It seems that as long as we are honoring blue we can proceed with the fact that we have black mixed in appears to be a problem that’s actually offensive to me,” Marshall complained to KTVT.
Marshall’s group took their donuts and Whataburger breakfast tacos over to the Dallas Boys and Girls Club instead, and also made a donation to that organization.
