Los Angeles Lakers star and entertainment actor/producer LeBron James has posted about his reasons for taking down what some saw as an inflammatory tweet regarding the police shooting of a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio.
Earlier today, James posted a tweet that showed a photo of the white policeman who shot Ma’khia Bryant, the girl who was shot. The photo of officer Nicholas Reardon had a caption that said, “You’re Next #Accountability.” The caption also had an hourglass emoji.
Some took that as a threat, and James took down the tweet after a firestorm arose. In the early evening he posted his thoughts on why he posted the messages.
In the Columbus incident, video showed the officer arriving on the scene and confronting a brawl in progress. Bryant was seen on video waving a knife and apparently threatening another girl. Reardon yelled “Get down!” and then fired four times, killing Bryant.
James, an Ohio native from Akron, later explained his initial anger.
“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.”
He added, “Anger does any of us any good and that includes myself! Gathering all the facts and educating does though!
