Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is speaking out against police brutality after a video of Wisconsin police officers shooting a black man went viral over the weekend.
Addressing the shooting of Jacob Blake, James said the police officers who fired seven rounds into Blake’s back should have used another tactic to subdue him before claiming that black people “are terrified” to live in the United States after a recent wave of videos showed violent interactions between law enforcement and the black community, including footage of George Floyd being pinned to the ground before he died in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day.
“It’s just quite frankly f—ed up in our community,” James said moments after the Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4 of the best of seven series. “I know people get tired of hearing me say it, but we are scared as black people in America. Black men, black women, black kids, we are terrified.”
James, who has used his platform to address issues such as police brutality in the past, asked why law enforcement can’t find more peaceful ways to disarm situations of unrest in the black community.
“If you’re sitting here and telling me that there was no way to subdue that gentleman or detain him before the firing of guns, then you’re sitting here, and you’re lying not only to me, but you’re lying to every African American, every black person in the community, because we see it over and over,” James said. “Why does it always have to get to a point where we see the guns firing? His family is there. His kids are there. It’s in broad daylight.”
Blake’s father announced on Tuesday morning that his son is paralyzed after almost dying from the gunshot wounds. Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, said they had been responding to a call about a potential domestic disturbance when the confrontation happened.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident, and two officers who were involved have been placed on administrative leave.
