LeBron James, like many professional athletes, was in disbelief over a tweet shared by the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday, after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd.
As the sports world reacted to the verdict, the Raiders did so by sharing an image that said “I CAN BREATHE,” with the verdict date of the trial below.
Last May, Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, told officers he “can’t breathe” more than 20 times while Chauvin knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell said during the trial. .
James, who previously reacted to the verdict by tweeting, “RESPONSIBILITY,” said this about the Raiders’ controversial tweet:
“Is this real ???? No man, that’s not it at all. The F ^% K !!!!”
After an avalanche of reaction, Raiders owner Mark Davis took responsibility for the tweet and said he would not delete it because it has already been made public.
“I felt it was a powerful statement,” Davis told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Davis explained that he was driving at the time the verdict was announced and heard Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, who stated that “we can all breathe again” and therefore decided to use a similar message as in response to the team.
“He said a lot about everything,” Davis said. “I thought it was something we could all breathe again. Justice was done. We still have a lot of work to do in terms of social justice and police brutality. But justice has been done today. “
Davis apologized if the Raiders’ tweet offended Floyd’s family.
“It’s a difficult situation. I feel bad that it was taken in a way I didn’t want to do. That can only be my fault for not explaining it, ”he said.
After Chauvin’s verdict, in which a jury found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter, third-degree murder and second-degree murder, the NFL was among the various leagues and sports teams that issued statements.
The NFL, in part, promised to “continue to help move our society toward a more egalitarian and just tomorrow” and “remain committed to doing the important work necessary to make positive change in our society.”
The league has not publicly addressed the Raiders ’Twitter post.