LeBron James is speaking out once more against police brutality and racial injustice following a violent incident in Wisconsin this week.
Videos surfaced from Kenosha, Wis., of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, being shot seven times in the back by a police officer as he tried opening his car door. Blake was reportedly on the scene trying to break up a domestic dispute before officers arrived and turned their focus on Blake, who was then tased before being shot.
The videos were widely seen on social media and led to protests across the country, and in particular in Milwaukee, Wis., close to the scene of the crime. James was just one of many athletes who decided to speak out against police brutality in the face of the incident, writing yesterday on Twitter: “And y’all wonder why we say what we say about the Police!! Someone please tell me WTF is this???!!! Exactly another black man being targeted. This s**t is so wrong and so sad!! Feel so sorry for him, his family and OUR PEOPLE!! We want JUSTICE.”
And y’all wonder why we say what we say about the Police!! Someone please tell me WTF is this???!!! Exactly another black man being targeted. This shit is so wrong and so sad!! Feel so sorry for him, his family and OUR PEOPLE!! We want JUSTICE https://t.co/cJxOj1EZ3H
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 24, 2020
Following his Tweet, the NBA star joined his teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers as they went on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers . Following the game he spoke to members of the press, saying: “We are scared as Black people in America. Black men, Black women, Black kids, we are terrified… Why does it always have to get to a point when we see the guns firing?”
Watch on FN
‘We are scared as Black people in America. Black men, Black women, Black kids, we are terrified,’ Los Angeles Lakers basketball star LeBron James said after Sunday's police shooting of Jacob Blake pic.twitter.com/2ReeOYrPp6
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 25, 2020
He additionally spoke with Jared Greenberg on TNT after the win to discuss how we as a country can address issues of racial injustice and police brutality, alluding to the upcoming election season: “It’s very troubling… hopefully we can have some change and I believe it starts in November.”
James is set to take part in a new initiative with More Than a Vote this week as well; More Than a Vote is a collective of athletes working to end voter suppression in a collaborative effort with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
The new initiative is reportedly a multimillion-dollar move that aims to increase the number of poll workers in Black electoral districts in states like Florida, Ohio, Georgia and Michigan. By increasing the number of workers, the campaign has hopes to ease the difficulties of voting and increase the number of people who can cast their ballots come November.
Fighting injustice has been an imperative for James. Last week, the All-Star athlete wore a spin-off design from Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign hats that read “Make America Arrest the Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor.”
The Lakers as a whole wore the hats in as a clear stance on the death of Taylor, a Black woman who was shot eight times and killed on March 13 when three Louisville Metro Police Department officers entered her Louisville apartment.
Editor’s note: This story has been amended after erroneously identifying the shooting as a death.
