Bob Nightengale

USA TODAY Sports

Steve Clevenger’s tweet that cost him his job as a Seattle Mariners catcher was not the first occasion he posted racially-charged messages on social media.

In an August post from Clevenger’s deactivated Facebook account obtained by USA TODAY Sports, Clevenger called the Black Lives Matter movement “a racial group no different from the KKK…and the reason is because there’s white people like you (who) support them.”

Clevenger's comments came in a Facebook thread under a posting that originated from conservative author Ann Coulter.

Clevenger, 30, was suspended by the Mariners for the remainder of the season Friday after tweets from his private Twitter account became public. One tweet suggested Black Lives Matter activists be “locked behind bars like animals!”

Mariners suspend Steve Clevenger without pay for remainder of the season

His Facebook post, from August, struck a similar tone:

“How dare I get mad at our country that gives free Obama phones out while I bust my ass. I come from the inner city. My mother taught me not to be a lazy ass. She taught me to work hard for things and it’s paid off. Now I gotta pay tons of taxes in which I’m ok with paying my (fair) share. And for what? To watch these black lives matter group bitch that their treated unfair! They get shot holding guns and still protest. And people on here have the audacity to tell me that this country is great right now haha. What a joke. Like I said before if follow BLM your trash to me. It’s a racial group no different from the kkk. But they allow them to tear down their own cities and violate white people with no consequences. And the reason is because there’s white people like you support them.”

Screenshots of Clevenger’s posts were obtained from an acquaintance of Clevenger’s who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject. Another person who viewed the posts confirmed their authenticity to USA TODAY Sports. Both noted that the tone and spirit of the posts were in line with others Clevenger made in the past and had expressed concern Clevenger’s views, publicly aired, would get him in trouble with his employer.

Attempts to contact Clevenger through his agent Friday night were not successful.

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