Feminist Group Flies Banner Over MetLife Stadium Calling For Commissioner Goodell's Resignation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A feminist group flew a banner over MetLife Stadium ahead of Sunday's game between the Giants and Arizona Cardinals that called for the resignation of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Thousands of members with the group UltraViolet are petitioning for Goodell to resign over the domestic abuse scandal surrounding running back Ray Rice.
The banner, which says "@UltraViolet #GoodellMustGo," also flew over NFL games in Cleveland and San Francisco on Sunday and the group plans to fly it over the Eagles-Colts game in Indianapolis on Monday.
The national women's advocacy organization said the banner is in response to what it called Goodell's "blatantly deceptive behavior in the handling of Ray Rice's domestic violence conviction and subsequent penalties."
More than 15,000 members have signed a petition calling for the commissioner's resignation.
Click here to view the petition.
"It is time for Roger Goodell to resign, and for the NFL to get serious about its commitment to ending violence against women within the league," said Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet. "In a country where a woman is battered every 9 seconds and 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence in their lifetime, we simply cannot afford to have an NFL commissioner who doesn't take this issue seriously -- which is clear from new evidence that NFL officials had graphic evidence of the Ray Rice assault since April.
"It is also clear given the league's failure to take action in the domestic violence cases of Carolina Panthers player Greg Hardy -- found guilty of assault in a court of law in July -- and San Francisco 49ers player Ray McDonald."
Rice was released by the Ravens on Monday and was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after TMZ published what it said was video from inside the elevator at the shuttered Revel Casino in Atlantic City, where Rice was arrested on Feb. 15 for a domestic dispute involving his now-wife Janay.
The video shows Rice hitting Janay with a left cross, which knocks her head into the railing before she hits the floor. Rice then drags his apparently unconscious fiancée out of the elevator.
Previously, he had been suspended two games by the league and the Ravens organization had announced its support for him.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News' Norah O'Donnell on Tuesday, Goodell was adamant that the second video was "new evidence" that no one within the NFL had seen before Monday.
A day later, however, a source told the Associated Press a law enforcement official sent the second video to a league executive five months ago.
The NFL said on Wednesday night that an independent investigation would be launched into those claims.
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