Basketball legend Michael Jordan voiced his outrage over the death of George Floyd.
The basketball great joins growing number of sports stars who have voice support for protests against police brutality.
Floyd died in police custody this week and a video of his arrest – which has gone viral on social media showing a 44-year-old white officer, Derek Chauvin, subdued Floyd by placing his knee on his neck for a prolonged period until Floyd was rendered motionlessness.
The officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck, as Floyd pleaded “I can’t breathe”, has since been arrested and is facing murder and manslaughter charges.
With protesters taking to the streets across the United States again Sunday, Jordan released a statement on Floyd and the killings of black people at the hands of police.
‘I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry,’ Jordan, an NBA Hall of Famer and owner of the National Basketball Association’s Charlotte Hornets, said in a statement. ‘I see and feel everyone’s pain, outrage and frustration.
Statement from Michael Jordan: pic.twitter.com/lWkZOf1Tmr
— Jordan (@Jumpman23) May 31, 2020
‘I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough.’
The comments from Jordan came as many US cities were bracing for another night of unrest after cleaning up streets strewn with broken glass and burned-out cars as curfews failed to quell confrontations between protesters and police.
Jordan, a six-time NBA champion who was at the heart of the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty in the 1990s, called on people to show compassion and empathy and never turn their backs on senseless brutality.
