LeBron James, like many professional athletes, was skeptical about a tweet distributed by the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday – after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd.
As the sports world reacted to the verdict, the Raiders did so by sharing an image that read “I CAN BREATHE”, with the verdict date of the trial below.
In May last year, Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, told officers “I can’t breathe” more than 20 times while Chauvin knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. , said prosecutor Jerry Blackwell during the trial.
James – who previously reacted to the verdict by tweeting, “RESPONSIBILITY” – said this about the controversial Raiders tweet:
“Is this true ???? No man, it’s not at all. F ^% K !!!!”
After an avalanche of side effects, Raiders owner Mark Davis took responsibility for the tweet and said he would not delete it, as it has already been made public.
“I felt it was a strong statement,” Davis told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Davis explained that he was driving at the time of announcing the verdict and heard Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, make a statement that “we can all breathe again” and therefore decided to use a similar message in response to the team.
“He said a lot about everything,” Davis said. “I thought it was something we could all breathe in again. Justice was done. We still have a lot of work to do on social justice and police brutality. But today justice has been done. “
Davis apologized if the Raiders tweet offended Floyd’s family.
“It’s a difficult situation. I’m sorry it was taken in a way it wasn’t meant to be done. That can only be my fault because I didn’t explain it, “he said.
After the Chauvin verdict – in which a jury found him guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree murder – the NFL was among the various leagues and sports teams that issued statements.
The NFL, in part, promised that “it will continue to help move society toward a more equal and just tomorrow” and “remain committed to doing the important work necessary to make positive changes in our society.”
The league did not publicly address the Raiders’ Twitter post.