Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is facing severe setbacks over a tweet that has now been deleted from a Columbus police officer who was involved in the shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant.
Bodycam footage released late Tuesday showed Bryant being shot when she attacked another black teenager with a knife.
Like many other public figures, however, James suggested the Columbus shooting was unfair because he was convicted of the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on charges of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
“YOU ARE NEXT # LIABILITY,” the NBA icon wrote with an hourglass emoji over an image of one of the officers at the scene of Bryant’s shooting.
LEBRON JAMES NOW-TWO TARGET OFFICER IN OHIO POLICE SHOT REMOVED: ‘YOU ARE FOLLOWING’
James is accused by critics of using his massive Twitter to target the officer.
“Lebron James incites violence against an Ohio police officer. It’s shameful and dangerous. Is the NBA okay with this? Is Twitter?” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. asked.
“On behalf of pro-athletes, current and former, I apologize for how #LeBronJames just showed his inner Maxine Waters and posed a very real, ongoing threat to the officer’s life that acted swiftly to prevent a knife attack is getting worse. Many of us appreciate what LEOs do! “wrote former Major League baseball player Lenny Dykstra.
“LeBron James-doxes [sic] police officer who rescued a teenage girl from stabbing to death, demanding that officer be held accountable, sets new record for stupidity of athletes, “tweeted Clay Travis, founder of OutKick.
“Reported threatening violence,” journalist Emily Miller wrote, tweeting.
“The police have done nothing wrong against any reasonable standard, and now someone with 50 million followers is encouraging attacks on him,” Conservative writer AG Hamilton said. ‘It’s over [of] countless news organizations lie about his actions. Decent people need to talk. Real people will be hurt by these things. ‘
James returned to Twitter to explain the “ANGER” he felt when he sent that tweet.
“ANGER does any of us good and that includes myself!” James tweeted. “Gather all the facts and educate, do it anyway! My anger is still here over what happened to that girl. My sympathy with her family and may justice prevail!”
He added: “I’m so tired of seeing black people killed by the police. I took down the tweet because it’s used to create more hatred. It’s not about one officer. It’s about the whole system and them “Always use our words to create more racism. I’m so desperate for more RESPONSIBILITY.”
James is one of several public figures and media who underestimated the fact that Bryant was attacking someone when she was shot.
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Former Obama assistant Valerie Jarrett claims police officers shot Bryant “to break a knife fight.”
Other tweets, including misses from The New York Times and The Washington Post, completely omitted the reference to the knife that Bryant held during the shooting.