Al Sharpton, famous for the Tawana Brawley hoax and his connection to the infamous Freddie’s Fashion Mart mass killing, issued a demand for PayPal to sever ties to Robert Sarver.
Sarver owns the Phoenix Suns [NBA], the Phoenix Mercury [WNBA], and RCD Mallorca.
Clashing with Jewish businessmen was Sharpton’s bread and butter in the 80s and 90s. The most famous is Fred Harari, the owner of Freddie’s Fashion Mart. Sharpton led protests against Harari in 1995 that ended with one of Sharpton’s followers murdering seven people and injuring another four inside the store.
Sharpton was also widely accused of helping to incite the Crown Heights Riot in 1991. This was an incident in which mobs of Black rioters attacked Jewish people and looted stores in the Crown Heights neighborhood of NYC.
In 1998, Al Sharpton spoke at a public rally in Harlem held by the ultra-radical Khallid Muhammed and the New Black Panther Party [NBPP]. The rally ended in a violent riot.
Muhammed was so radical that Louis Farrakhan demoted him from a Nation of Islam [NOI] leadership position and banned him from speaking at NOI events. Yet Sharpton still openly associated with Muhammed in public after this. Sharpton also paid for Muhammed’s funeral when he later died of a brain aneurysm. At a 2012 rally for Trayvon Martin, Sharpton publicly defended the NBPP at a large audience.
Sharpton wrote an open letter to PayPal CEO Dan Schulman:
I am writing to demand that PayPal cease doing business with any entity owned or associated with Robert Sarver, including the Phoenix Suns, the Phoenix Mercury, and Real Club Deportivo Mallorca. Mr. Sarver’s leadership has been riddled with credible allegations of racism, misogyny, and harboring a toxic work environment.
PayPal currently has a multi-year endorsement deal with the Suns. The payments company is also the jersey patch partner for the Suns, the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and Spain’s RCD Mallorca.
