Outrage seems to the prevailing emotion of the past week as many of us are glued to our screens, scrolling from one social media post to the next, watching more senseless police violence unfold across the country.
It seems like LeBron James is no different. On Thursday night, an especially shocking video of police shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground sparked a fresh round of anger.
In the video, a man approaches a group of officers and seemingly without provocation, the officers shove him until the man falls to the ground. There is the audible thud of his head hitting the pavement and blood pooling around his ear. Then, a large group of officers walk past his prone body without offering assistance.
LeBron used his considerable Twitter platform on Friday and commented on the video and the Buffalo Police Department’s allegations that the man had supposedly “tripped.”
And I heard they put out a statement that he supposedly tripped and fell down. Man What!!!!! Don’t make no damn sense people. Don’t matter what color your skin is if you’re not angry seeing this you’re part of the problem too! https://t.co/SLVXQ3xaNW
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 5, 2020
“And I heard they put out a statement that he supposedly tripped and fell down,” LeBron wrote. “Man What!!!!! Don’t make no damn sense people. Don’t matter what color your skin is if you’re not angry seeing this you’re part of the problem too!”
LeBron has commented on Floyd’s death, slammed Drew Brees’ comments on kneeling and fired back at Fox News host Laura Ingraham. This time he’s directly addressing police brutality, and not just as it affects the black community.
According to USA TODAY, the man who was shoved is “”alert and oriented” and two Buffalo police officers have been suspended.
The incident comes after more than a week of protests over the death of George Floyd, who was killed when a police officer pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for close to nine minutes. While many protests around the country continue peacefully, many disturbing incidents of police violence against protestors have also been caught on camera.
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