NBA star LeBron James couldn’t hold his emotions in check while discussing the recent shooting of Jacob Blake.
Blake, a middle-aged African-American, was shot seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
A graphic video of the incident showed the victim entering an SUV when the police open fire on him.
Speaking after the LA Lakers’ win against the Portland Trail Blazers, James condemned the shooting of Blake, who is currently in critical condition.
"Having two boys of my own and me being an African-American in America and to see what continues to happen with police brutality towards my kind … it's very troubling." – @KingJames pic.twitter.com/haC4ubLdqg
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 27, 2020
The 35-year-old said incidents like this have become one too many and have made black people in America scared.
“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, 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,” LeBron said.
“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?
“And his family is there. The kids are there. It’s in broad daylight … It’s just, quite frankly, it’s just f**ked up in our community.”
The incident has sparked outrage from the black community, with some athletes also calling out the system.
On Wednesday, the NBA playoffs were postponed after several players protested the shooting incident.
