Rockies draft pick deletes tweet wishing someone would shoot Obama
The Colorado Rockies selected Ole Miss sophomore Ryan Rolison with the 22nd pick of the 2018 MLB draft on Monday, and he's already come under scrutiny for a tweet he posted about President Obama on election night in 2012. In the now-deleted tweet, Rolison reacted to Mr. Obama's re-election: "Well we have one hope left… if someone shoots him during his speech."
Rolison would have been 15 years old when he sent the tweet.
Shortly after the Rockies announced the pick Monday, Twitter users criticized Rolison for the tweet. He has since deleted the tweet but has not responded to the controversy on Twitter.
Here is @Rockies first round draft pick from @OleMissBSB Ryan Rolison now deleted tweet about assassination of former President Barack Obama on the night of Obama’s reelection pic.twitter.com/Jv2BpUOdeX
— Exavier Pope (@exavierpope) June 5, 2018
This is the latest incident of an athlete's past tweets coming back to haunt them. Earlier this year, former Wyoming Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen was criticized for posting tweets containing racial slurs in 2012 and 2013. He issued an apology several days prior to the NFL Draft and was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the No. 7 overall pick.
In a conference call, Rockies scouting director Bill Schmidt responded to a question from The Athletics' Nick Groke, who asked if the team vets each player's social media accounts before the draft.
"We do. We take a look at it. We realize kids do things at a very young age that they might regret at some point as they mature. We are aware of some things young people do," Schmidt said.
A Rockies spokesperson pointed to the question when asked if the team would be making a statement on Rolison's tweet.