LeBron James was faced with heavy backlash on Wednesday after he took to social media and posted a now-deleted tweet targeting a Columbus police officer involved in the shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant.
Bodycam footage released late Tuesday showed Bryant being shot as she was attacking another Black teen with a knife.
James suggested that the Columbus shooting was unjustified coming on the heels of the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Soon after the backlash, he would get back on Twitter and explain why he took down the post:
“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”
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Senator Tom Cotton criticized the tweet, claiming that the NBA star was inciting violence against the officer.
“This is disgraceful and dangerous,” Cotton wrote Wednesday. “Is the NBA okay with this? Is Twitter?”
The shooting happened about half an hour before the decision was reached in the killing of George Floyd.
