Panthers remove statue of former owner Jerry Richardson

The statue was first unveiled in 2016. Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Panthers remove Jerry Richardson statue in 'interest of public safety'

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 6/10/20

Following the killing of George Floyd, an African American man who died while in Minneapolis police custody on May 25 after a white officer knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, protests over police violence and racial inequalities spread around the world.

As noted by CNN, protesters in England pulled down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston and dumped it into a body of water in the city of Bristol. Multiple statues of Christopher Columbus in the United States have been defaced, damaged or destroyed.

On Wednesday, ESPN's David Newton wrote how the Carolina Panthers struck first regarding a statue of former club owner Jerry Richardson.

Per Newton, the Panthers have moved the statue from outside the team's stadium to an undisclosed site "in the interest of public safety."

The statue was first unveiled in 2016, but a December 2017 Sports Illustrated report detailed multiple allegations of sexual harassment and racist remarks against Richardson. That same story reported Richardson and the Panthers reached monetary settlements with at least four club employees over such allegations.

Richardson sold the Panthers to businessman and billionaire David Tepper in 2018.

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