The Conversation (0)
James Besanvalle
Aug 25, 2020
LeBron James has demanded justice for a young Black man who was shot several times by police on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Video of 29-year-old Jacob Blake walking away from police emerged on social media in the hours following the shooting.
It showed Blake trying to enter a vehicle when an officer grabbed his shirt and a total of seven shots could be heard.
Blake was reportedly rushed to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee and was in a serious condition, but his family have since confirmed that he is out of surgery and stable. His father also reported his son as being paralysed from the waist down.
On Monday, LeBron James tweeted about how “wrong and so sad” he thought the shooting was:
He elaborated on the incident in a press conference on Monday after the Lakers' win against the Portland Trail Blazers.
James said:
If you're sitting here telling me that there was no way to subdue that gentleman or detain him or before the firing of guns, then you're sitting here [and] you're lying to not only me, you're lying to every African American, every Black person in the community because we see it over and over and over.
If you watch the video, there [were] multiple moments where if they wanted to they could have tackled him, they could have grabbed him. They could have done that. Why does it always have to get to a point where we see the guns firing?
According to Blake’s attorney, his three children – aged three, five and eight – were in the car at the time of the shooting.
James added:
It's just, quite frankly, it's just f***** up in our community.
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. Because you don't know, you have no idea. You have no idea how that cop that day left the house. You don't know if he woke up on the good side of the bed, you don't know if he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said on Monday evening:
Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight. While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement.
It’s not the first time LeBron James has made a statement in defence of Black lives.
Last week, the pro basketball player wore a red MAGA hat, but crossed out the last two words and replaced it with a new message:
Make America arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.
In March, 26-year-old Taylor was shot eight times after Kentucky police reportedly “blindly fired” into the wrong house.
Since then, one of the police officers involved in the incident has since been fired, but the two other officers have not.