LeBron James came under fire after he demanded accountability for Nicholas Reardon, the police officer who fatally shot 16-year-old Ma’khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY,” the since-deleted post read. Conservatives, including Donald Trump, criticized LeBron for the tweet, with many accusing him of inciting violence.
O.J. Simpson was also among those to blast ‘Bron, and Boosie Badazz thinks the former running back and murder suspect shouldn’t be getting involved.
"You can't fight every battle," Simpson said in the clip he posted to Twitter. "Sometimes you need to take your time and be a little more patient before you comment on some of these bad incidents that are happening with some police departments. ... What I saw when I saw the full thing, the police guy had no choice, he responded. We wish he could have pulled a taser, we wish he could have done it in another way, but in that instance, if he hadn't done what he did, it appears to me that another young American would have had her life taken. I can't fault what he did. I wish it were different, but I can't fault it."
Ma’Khia Bryant was fatally shot by officer Nicholas Reardonn on Tuesday (April 20) during an incident in which she was brandishing a knife. Bryant was moving towards a woman while holding the knife, police bodycam footage shows when the officer yelled “Get down” several times. He fired at least four shots at Bryant, who was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
“O.J. Simpson… How the hell you gonna tell LeBron [to] be quiet ‘bout speaking up our race, you supposed to be speaking up our race,” said Boosie Badazz in a clip shared on his Instagram Story. “I was cheering for you! We got you free. … The Black community got you free! And you want to tell them to chill out? You need to chill out. You better chill out. Get the fuck out Lebron nuts. You wrong man. You supposed to be on the front line for this Black shit.”
After deleting the tweet that had O.J. and right-wing figures up in arms, LeBron James explained himself. "I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police,” James wrote. “I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate -This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY."
