LOS ANGELES – A day after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, the captain of the Los Angeles Lakers was LeBron James He wondered what would have happened if the rebel group had been predominantly black, and blamed President Donald Trump for the chaos.
„We live in the Americas,” James said on Thursday after the Lakers lost 118-109 to the San Antonio Spurs. „ And this was a prime example of this yesterday, and if you don’t understand it or don’t see it after seeing what you saw yesterday, you really need to step back – not even just one step, but maybe four or five, or even 10 steps back and ask yourself. How do you want your children, or how do you want your grandchildren, or how do we want America to be seen? Do we want to live in this beautiful country? „
James, wearing a black T-shirt that says „Do you understand now?” He said he watched the news coverage of the riots on Wednesday showing a large white mob being met by a relatively passive police force. He said it made him think about how he and his family – his wife, three children, and mother-in-law, all black – would be treated in the same situation.
James said, „If they were the ones who broke into the Capitol, what was the result? I think we all know.” „There is not if there is if there is if there is if something if something if anyone has approached the Capitol Building, let alone burst into offices and inside hallways.”
Fellow James Anthony Davis He echoed that sentiment, contrasting how protesters were received by police forces across the country during the summer.
„It’s like double standards,” said Davis, who wore a T-shirt titled Public Enemy 1990’s album Fear of the Black Planet. On the other hand, an entire group rushes to the nation’s Capitol and is escorted out the front door as everything is fine.
„ And if I’m not wrong – well, I’m not wrong – they take things, and when black lives matter [movement] „Once the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he protested. As far as I know, if you take something, you loot it. In this case, for them, they were escorted out the front door. It is just a slap in the face for us. Looks like we’re going back. We thought we were witnessing a change and then it happens. „
In May, Trump tweeted, „When the looting begins, the shooting begins,” threatening military action in response to the social justice movement sparked by the death of George Floyd, who was in police custody in Minneapolis when he died from the knees of an officer. His neck.
James, who has had public relations with Trump for years, said the outgoing president was responsible for what happened Wednesday.
„The events that happened yesterday were directly related to the president who is in the seat now – to his actions, his beliefs and his desires,” James said. „He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Nobody. Nobody at all. He doesn’t care about this country. He doesn’t care about his family. He doesn’t care about anyone else.”
In 2016, James, while standing in the locker room of the Cleveland Cavaliers on the night of Trump’s election, wondered if it would be better for him to get out of the country. He said Thursday night is a harmful presidential term for the country.
„Four years ago I sat there and said this is the beginning of the end for our country. And I hope it only lasts four years,” James said. „But the one thing in life you can’t regain, one thing you can never regain, and that time. You can’t regain time. We’ve literally only spent four years. How can we recover that?”
Wednesday’s breach of the Capitol building, which resulted in the deaths of five people and the resignation of the capitol police chief, came hours before the official confirmation that Joe Biden was the 46th President of the United States when Congress confirmed the number of the Electoral College was 306-232.
James said he believed Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris provided hope to the country.
James said, „We took a step forward in November by electing Joe and Kamala to be in the White House, as president of our country.” „This is a step forward.”
Davis said the Lakers and Spurs pre-match demonstration – rallying arms together in a circle at the central court while the national anthem was playing – was supposed to continue to inspire unity during tough times.
„We cannot give up hope. No matter what happens. As a sibling in the league and as an African American, we cannot allow ourselves to lose hope just because we don’t see change,” Davis said. „This is what people want. They want us to lose hope, lose confidence and vanish. Let the idea of change fade away. Do nothing. … We have to continue to unite and remain in solidarity to achieve make sure we remain strong through all of this.”
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