Portland OR Radio: Dino Costa Draws Fire Over Remarks

Dino Costa

More than 2 months after calling for protesters to be run over by trucks, the comments of radio personality Dino Costa are drawing attention, ire and reflection in the wake of the violence that erupted at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to KOIN6-TV.

EugeneWeekly.com reports that Costa, a host on Portland radio station KXTG The Game, was talking about a Black Lives Matter protest in Minnesota on June 7 when he suggested police wave traffic through protesters who lay down in the road.

“If I’m the cops, I wave the traffic on,” Costa said that day. “When people are being killed by 18-wheel trucks coming by, pickups, cars. Run ’em over!”

He also made sure people knew he was suggesting this for Portland protests, too. Costa made these comments just 2 days after his program began airing on The Game. The KXTG website states:

“On June 5, 2017, Sports Radio in Portland changed forever with the arrival of The DINO COSTA Show.  DINO has brought his irreverent and irrepressible style to the Pacific Northwest with the intention of dramatically re-shaping the sports radio landscape with his not to be missed show.”

The Game is the flagship station for University of Oregon games.

The senior associate athletic director for UO, Jimmy Stanton, told EugeneWeekly.com they just learned about Costa’s comments and will raise their concerns with The Game and their sponsorship partner, IMG Sports Marketing.

In a statement released on their website, the Portland Timbers — which also air their matches on The Game — said:

“…The Timbers have and will always stand for tolerance, acceptance and diversity, and we understand the reaction that many of our fans have had to some of the offensive and insensitive views and opinions expressed on The Dino Costa Show. In no way do we condone those views, as they go against our fundamental values and beliefs as a club. We are under contract with Alpha Media through the end of the 2018 MLS season. We will carefully evaluate our radio home at that time.”

In a statement to KOIN 6 News, management with Alpha Media — the parent company of KXTG 102.9 FM / 750 AM The Game — said:

Alpha Media holds the relationships with the Portland Timbers and the University of Oregon in high regard. 750/102.9 The Game management team took immediate and aggressive action with Dino Costa regarding the comment made during his June 7th broadcast.