LeBron James shared why he took down his tweet about police-slain teen Ma’Khia Bryant.
Seeing police kill another Black woman and Black man every other day is taxing mentally, physically, and emotionally. It’s so depressing that it can bring a person – a Black person in particular – to shut down completely. This is the sentiment Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said he felt when he took down his tweet about 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, who was murdered by a police officer in Columbus, Ohio.
James tweeted a photo on Wednesday of Nicholas Reardon, the cop who killed Bryant. In his caption, he wrote, “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY.”
As soon as he posted the tweet, conservatives began falsely accusing him of inciting violence. “This is disgraceful and dangerous,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. “Is the NBA okay with this? Is Twitter?”
James returned to Twitter and removed his tweet, saying he took it down because it was “being used to create more hate.”
“I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate -This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY,” wrote the NBA star.
He added another tweet, saying, “This isn’t about one officer,” James said in a follow-up tweet. “It’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY.” He continued: “I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police.”
