Ottawa Redblacks release Chris Larsen after suspension, say cuts are based on roster size
The Ottawa Redblacks say their decision to release a player suspended by the Canadian Football League club after Toronto Police launched an investigation into a possible hate crime earlier this month was based on roster size.
Canadian defensive lineman Chris Larsen was one of six players released by the Redblacks on Thursday.
The Redblacks said in a statement the cuts were made in an effort to bring the roster down to the allowable limit prior to the start of training camp.
Larsen was never charged and Calvin Barry, his lawyer, said last week his client is not a suspect in the crime.
Barry said the University of Manitoba product talked to police and was cleared for an alleged assault on Toronto Island on June 5.
A 24-year-old man was arrested for aggravated assault last weekend and at the time of the arrest, police said the investigation was ongoing.
Investigators previously said a man and a woman were walking to the docks on June 5 when a disagreement broke out between them and a group of other people.
Police say a man from that group made the comments, and two men from the group assaulted the male victim, leaving him with significant injuries.
Officers said they were seeking three suspects - two men and a woman.
Barry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press about Larsen's release.
On the night of the suspension, Mark Goudie, the CEO of the Redblacks' parent company, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, said “We are particularly sorry for the trauma caused to the 2SLGBTQ+ community.”
Larsen, 25, has not played a game in the CFL.
The Toronto native was picked in the sixth round, 54th overall, by the Redblacks in the 2019 CFL draft.
Larsen returned to Manitoba for the 2019 season.
The 2020 CFL season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the league has announced 2021 training camp will start next month with the season opening in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2021
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.