By Police1 Staff
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Staten Island Yankees, a minor-league affiliate of the New York Yankees, is surprised at controversy surrounding their ”Blue Lives Matter Day”, Yahoo News reported.
Blue Lives Matter NYC is a charity for families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. The charity hosted a fundraising event Aug. 8 during a baseball game between two minor league teams. Families of slain NYPD detectives were honored and threw the ceremonial first pitch.
“We just wanted to get them out of the house and put a smile on their face,” NYPD Sgt. Joe Imperatrice told to the publication. “We were just focused on having something positive come out of something negative.”
However, social-justice activists and others criticized the event for taking place on the anniversary of the incident in Ferguson.
Not insensitive at all, Staten Island Yankees! pic.twitter.com/rlFZQ5mw9Z
— Aaron Fischer (@AaronFisch) August 9, 2015
A critic for an online magazine covering African-American culture known as the Root wrote, “The Staten Island Yankees wanted to send a statement today, and they did: Black lives don’t matter to them or the Yankees organization.”
Officials say the date was a coincidence.
The senior director of marketing and fan experience for the Staten Island Yankees, Michael Holley, told the news site they were focused on helping the families and didn’t notice the event’s date.
Imperatrice also stated they were unaware of the date while planning the event.
“We’re not here to take sides. We’re not here to back anything politically,” Imperatrice said. “We’re here to tell the families that we’ll never let them down and we’re always here to help them.