(Headline USA) Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James posted and then deleted a tweet Wednesday that singled out a police officer after body camera footage showed the officer shot a woman wielding a knife against another girl.
James’ tweet showed an image of the officer. Above it he wrote, “you’re next.”
James deleted the tweet after a flood of criticism, and he later went on Twitter to defend himself.
“ANGER does any of us any good and that includes myself!” James said on twitter. “Gathering all the facts and educating does though! My anger still is here for what happened that lil girl. My sympathy for her family and may justice prevail!”
James used a word the Democrats and liberals have rallied around in recent days, replacing “justice” with “accountability.”
“I’m so damn tired of seeing black people killed by police,” James said. “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.”
Shortly after the guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin in the murder trial for George Floyd, the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant went viral.
James and liberal activists pounced on the incident and began calling for accountability, but the body cam footage slowed their enthusiasm.
“YOU’RE NEXT”
This post by @KingJames could be read as an incitement to violence against a @ColumbusPolice officer who responded to the attempted stabbing attack by #MakhiaBryant. LeBron James has deleted the tweet. Here is an archive: https://t.co/6Dn4LnS22M #BLM pic.twitter.com/epH7EQFjuf— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) April 21, 2021
James took heavy criticism on social media:
Lebron James is speaking out because the wrong person died. If the other person was stabbed to death, he wouldn’t be saying a word.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 22, 2021
Yes, that’s it. You’re the victim, LeBron. https://t.co/iKNDOKbWZV
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) April 22, 2021
Lebron when it Lebron when it
comes to comes to
America China pic.twitter.com/SPckdcEsEH— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) April 21, 2021
so LeBron is claiming that he took the tweet down because it was being used to create more hate by some unnamed bad actors, when it’s pretty obvious that he was the one who was needlessly stoking hate & division. https://t.co/JUUHVNq0dN
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) April 22, 2021
LeBron prefers that a black girl had been stabbed instead of a cop stopping the girl who was about to stab her. https://t.co/DAGRxNBulJ
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) April 21, 2021
Hey Lebron, former NBA fan here, haven’t watched a game in years because of this nonsense.
If you care about facts, you may want to retweet this information about fatal shootings. Police killed over double the unarmed whites than black people in 2019. https://t.co/0L8BjmKqKv https://t.co/O9I80vlwuJ pic.twitter.com/XQif9DJiCM
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 22, 2021
LeBron James wants “accountability” for a cop who saved two black lives from being stabbed to death but he’s never called for “accountability” for the Chinese Communist Party.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 21, 2021
You’ll notice that woke athletes like LeBron never actually engage with facts or data. And the sports media all protect them from ever having to answer any questions about their ignorance on these issues. Sports media doesn’t speak truth to power, they ball wash.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 21, 2021