Advocates Urge SF Giants Boycott Over Owner’s Donations to Cindy Hyde-Smith

Bay Area civil-rights advocates are calling for a boycott of the San Francisco Giants over political contributions made by one of the team’s owners. Charles B. Johnson, a retired billionaire and part owner of the team, donated to candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was recently called out for a controversial remark, and to the super PAC Black American’s for the President’s Agenda, which reportedly funded a racist radio ad. Johnson and his wife donated $5,400 to Mississippi Senator Hyde-Smith’s reelection campaign three weeks after she made a now infamous comment about attending a “public hanging”. The Giants released a statement on Monday condemning racism, but emphasized that it has no control over the political beliefs of its more than 30 owners. “Neither I nor anyone else at the Giants can control who any of our owners support politically, just as we cannot and should not control whom any of our employees support politically,” team President & CEO Larry Baer said in a statement.