‘Change ... must happen now,’ says Jaguars owner

JACKSONVILLE — Jaguars owner Shad Khan has posted a letter on the team’s website addressing social injustice and racism, calling events of the past 10 days alarming and disheartening.

He wrote that he was alarmed by the country’s history of systemic inequity, highlighting the death of George Floyd and the disproportionate impact the coronavirus has had on communities of color.

“Disheartening because this familiar sequence of killing, followed by protest and civic unrest, followed by inactivity and silence, occurs ever more frequently in our nation,” he wrote.

Khan added the video capturing the final moments of Floyd’s life offered horrific evidence of injustice in the United States.

Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody May 25 after a Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes while Floyd complained he couldn’t breathe.

Unrest over Floyd’s death sparked protests in more than 60 cities nationwide. Many of the demonstrations were peaceful, but some have featured clashes with police and looting.

There were rallies in downtown Jacksonville this past weekend that were mostly peaceful, but there were some acts of vandalism and confrontations Saturday.

It led Mayor Lenny Curry to declare a civil emergency and impose a curfew that ran from 8 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday.

Like Khan, several Jaguars players have used their social platforms this week to speak out against police brutality and systemic racism, urging others to take action and make meaningful changes.