Walmart announced on Tuesday that it will stop selling “Bulletproof: Black Lives Matter” shirts after a request by the head of the country’s largest police organization. The retailer said it is removing the “Bulletproof” shirts, but not its other “Black Lives Matter” shirts, the Washington Post reports.
Last week, Breitbart published an article saying that “Walmart is selling Black Lives Matter clothing and other items.” According to the Post, the merchandise is only sold on the retailer’s website through a Connecticut music and apparel company. On Tuesday, Chuck Canterbury, the president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, wrote to Walmart’s CEO, C. Douglas McMillon, urging him to “prohibit the use of the Walmart name and website for the retail sale of these products.”
Per the Post:
Canterbury said he understood that a third party was selling the merchandise, but “I am concerned that allowing these articles to be sold in this way will damage your company’s good name amongst FOP members and other active and retired law enforcement officers.” Canterbury added, “Commercializing our differences will not help our local police and communities to build greater trust and respect for one another.”
On Tuesday night, Walmart said in a statement, “Like other online retailers, we have a marketplace with millions of items offered by third parties that includes Blue Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter merchandise. After hearing concerns from customers, we are removing the specific item with the ‘bulletproof’ reference.”
