The team used the running back’s August shooting as an example of ‘out-of-control violent crime in DC.’
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On Wednesday, Brian Robinson Jr.’s agent tweeted a scathing response to the Commanders after using the running back’s name when addressing the District of Columbia attorney general.
D.C. attorney general Karl Racine opened an investigation into the team around the same time a letter was written to the Federal Trade Commission by the U.S. House Committee for Oversight and Reform alleging Washington was involved in financial improprieties. According to ESPN, the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia has opened a criminal investigation into the allegations.
Racine announced Wednesday he will hold a 1 p.m. ET news conference Thursday to “make a major announcement related to the Washington Commanders.”
Ahead of the imminent announcement, a Commanders spokesperson released a statement and cited Robinson’s shooting saying, “Less than three months ago, a 23-year-old player on our team was shot multiple times, in broad daylight.” The spokesperson also used the phrase “out-of-control violent crime in DC.”
Robinson was shot twice during an Aug. 28 robbery attempt but has since fully recovered. His agent, Ryan Williams, was not pleased with the team using his client in their statement.
“Up until an hour ago, the Commanders handled the Brian Robinson situation with so much care, sincerity and class,” Williams said in a tweet. “And I was so grateful for it. Although I know that there are some great humans in that building, whoever is hiding behind this statement is not one of them.”
Police arrested a juvenile in connection with the August shooting and charged him with “Assault with Intent to Rob while Armed (Gun),” on Nov. 2. After Williams’s response, Commanders president Jason Wright released a statement Wednesday night.
“The earlier statement expressed our external counsel’s ongoing frustration with the attorney general’s office as they have been nothing but earnest and transparent in their communications with his team,” he said in the release. “The lawyers’ legitimate frustrations with the AG should have been separate and apart from referencing the terrible crime that affected our player.”
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