NBA star LeBron James and other players for the Los Angeles Lakers were spotted ahead of Game 1 of the first-round playoff series on Tuesday wearing hats that appeared similar to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hats but actually had a message calling for the arrests of the police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor.
“Make America Great Again Arrest The Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor,” the hats read, referring to the 26-year-old woman who was shot and killed earlier this year in Louisville, Kentucky.
James shared a photo wearing the hat to his Instagram account on Tuesday, with the caption “By Any Means‼️ Lets Get It #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor.”
Taylor, who was black, died on March 13 after local police used a no-knock warrant to enter her home after midnight. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was also in the residence at the time and fired a warning shot at whom he thought were intruders. Police responded with gunfire, shooting Taylor eight times.
“It’s just something that we continue to put our foot on the gas, continue to pressure,” James told reporters while wearing the hat. “The situation that’s going on in Louisville, Kentucky, an innocent woman being killed, by the name of Breonna Taylor, a woman who had a bright future, and her life was taken away from her. There have been no arrests. There’s been no justice — not only for her but for her family. We want to continue to shed light on that situation. It’s just unjust.”
The Lakers’s Twitter account also shared photos of players wearing the hats.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 18, 2020
The move comes as teams across the NBA voice their support for the Black Lives Matter movement by kneeling during the national anthem and wearing attire calling for an end to police brutality and racism.
