Boston Police Delete Tweet on Red Auerbach, Black History Month After Criticism

The Boston Police Department has deleted a tweet that honored former Boston Celtics head coach Red Auerbach, a white man, for Black History Month.

According to the Associated Press, "The department tweeted that it was paying tribute to Auerbach for being the first NBA coach to draft a black player, start five African-American players, and hire the NBA's first African-American head coach." 

The tweet received immediate backlash. Boston city councilor Ayanna Pressley called it "tone deaf and offensive" in a thread: 

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh also released a critical statement in regards to the tweet, per Chris Villani of ESPN Radio: 

The Boston Police deleted the tweet after an hour and have since replaced it with a post celebrating NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell and an apology: 

They also wrote in a separate tweet, "BPD realizes that an earlier tweet may have offended some and we apologize for that. Our intentions were never to offend. It has been taken down."