Cricket club chairman steps down after spewing vile racism and homophobia over Pride and Black Lives Matter
Rod Hamer has left the cricket club “with immediate effect” (Pexels)
Ramsbottom Cricket Club chairman has stepped down after spewing a string of “racist, sexist and homophobic” tweets about Pride and Black Lives Matter.
The club has announced that its longtime chairman and treasurer, Rod Hamer, has resigned from his posts following complaints from local residents about his Twitter activity.
A now-deleted account under the name @HamerRod appears to show the club leader attacking efforts to celebrate Pride Month. A picture of a rainbow-coloured police vehicle posted by Ipswich Police prompted the response: “Idiotic waste of money – stop pampering these homosexuals.”
The account was also used to lash out at Black Lives Matter demonstrators, whom he saw as “morons”, “vandals” and “terrorists”.
“BLM organisers should be re-classified as terrorists just as the equally vile EDL are,” he wrote in a tweet seen by the Manchester Evening News.
“We the massive majority of decent people in this country should not have to be paying to clean up their messes. Presumably most of them have no legal jobs and are on benefit.”
Replying to a post by Nigel Farage about Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, Hamer said: “Another Black personality with no intelligence.”
He also took aim at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, saying, “Send the mayor back to where he came. He is a traitor to the UK,” and, “F**k off now for good Khan. You are the very worst of your race!”
— Nigeruns (@nigrac) July 12, 2020
The many tweets were interspersed with interactions with the main Ramsbottom Cricket Club Twitter account, leading to accusations that Hamer was “besmirching the name of Ramsbottom Cricket Club and cricket in general”.
The English Cricket Board confirmed it was aware of the complaints but deferred to the regional league, Lancashire Cricket.
Lancashire Cricket told the MEN that “anyone found guilty of being racist is not welcome in the Red Rose family”.
Hamer’s resignation was accepted by Ramsbottom Cricket Club , which issued a statement confirming that he would be stepping down “with immediate effect”.
“In the light of recent events, Rod has decided it is in the best interests of the club and the game in general for him to resign,” the club said.
“He deeply regrets the tone and content of his recent posts on social media and would like to apologise for any offence caused.
“We would like to thank Rod for his long service and contribution to the success of Ramsbottom Cricket Club on and off the pitch over many years.”
He deeply regrets the tone and content of his recent posts on social media and would like to apologise for any offence caused.
We would like to thank Rod for his long service and contribution to the success of Ramsbottom Cricket Club on and off the pitch over many years.
— RamsbottomCC (@RamsbottomCC) July 11, 2020
