Updated May 27th, 2022 at 22:39 IST
MLB teams hailed for raising awareness about gun violence post horrific Texas shooting
New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays did so following the mass shooting that took place at the Robb Elementary School in Texas where 21 people were killed.
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Two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays are receiving plaudits online for using their social media handles to raise awareness about recent episodes of gun violence. The social media teams of the two franchises worked together to share statistics about gun violence in the United States.
Both teams did so following the mass shooting that took place at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 people were brutally murdered. The list of victims shockingly included 19 children.
MLB teams raise awareness about gun violence
The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays showcased facts about gun violence instead of their game coverage for the day. Several of the posts shared by the social media handles of the two teams can be seen in the Tweets below:
In lieu of game coverage and in collaboration with @Yankees, we will use our channels to offer facts about the impacts of gun violence.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball)
The devastating events that took place in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities across our nation are tragedies that are intolerable.
Firearms were the leading cause of death for American children and teens in 2020.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees)
When an assault weapon is used in a mass shooting, it results in six times as many people shot than when other guns are used.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball)
MLB fans praise teams for raising awareness about gun violence
As the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays scrapped their game coverage to share information about gun violence in the United States, rival fans set aside their differences and lauded the initiative as seen below.
I’m a @Mets fan. And RTing a Yankee post is not something I would ever think I would do. This is one with RTing a million times over.
— Mark (@MarkLFeinberg)
Brilliant. We cannot stop here. Every corporation and every sports team needs to follow suit until this is all we are talking about as a country. STOP THE MADNESS!!!!! STOP SELLING AR-15 STYLE WEAPONS! Start tight background checks. NOW! Not tomorrow. NOW.
— Democracy 4 All 😷💛 (@goodbye56789)
More of this please. This is awesome. Way to go, Yankees!
— AHR (@ahopeross)
And with that said - thus concludes the only time I will be a fan of the Yankees. https://t.co/myEoGkcrZv
As a Red Sox fan I am supposed to hate the Yankees, but you guys earned a lot of respect from me for doing this. Still going to root against you but you have my respect :) Thank you for this, hope other teams follow suit.
— Scott Cee - Source Global (@ScottCeeSG)
3.6M followers. During a game when they have the most eyes and attention, the Yankees used their platform to try and DO SOMETHING out here. I appreciate it. Love ya'll for real. This was unexpected... https://t.co/73QdYOSwbZ
— Keith McPherson (@Keith_McPherson)
Texas school shooting details
A gunman stormed into an elementary school Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers in the United States’ deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade. Law enforcement officers killed the shooter, identified as a local 18-year-old who had shot and wounded his grandmother and spelt out his violent plans in online messages shortly before the massacre at Robb Elementary.
The attacker, an 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, shot his 66-year-old grandmother in the face at their Uvalde home, then fled in her truck as she sought help, according to Governor Greg Abbott, Texas Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and other officials.
A short distance away, Ramos crashed the truck outside the school, got out with a rifle and approached a back door, officials said. They said an officer assigned to the school “engaged” Ramos, but the gunman got into the building and down a hallway to a fourth-grade classroom. After locking the classroom door, he opened fire around 11:30 a.m. with an AR-15-style rifle, carrying multiple magazines.
A team including local officers and Border Patrol agents ultimately forced the door open and shot Ramos to death after he fired at them, police said.
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Published May 27th, 2022 at 22:39 IST