Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have come under fire after making comments about Breonna Taylor’s case and defending the cops who shot her during a raid on her apartment.
As the pair were discussing Taylor’s case during the NBA on TNT that took place before the showdown between Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers, they suggested that the EMT’s boyfriend should be blamed for her death because he opened fire first.
“I don’t think this one was like George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery and things like that.point 233 |
I feel sad that this young lady lost her life.point 37 | I think the no-knock warrant is something we need to get rid of across the board.point 103 | But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend shot at the cops and shot a cop,” Barkley said.point 187 | 1
He also went on to call for police reform as he insisted the police should not be defunded because that would leave black neighborhoods unprotected.
Agreeing with his co-host, O’Neal insisted that the police officers were just “doing their job” and executing the warrant that was signed by a judge.
“You have to get a warrant signed and some states do allow no-knock warrants. Everyone was asking for murder charges. When you talk about murder, you have to show intent. A homicide occurred and we’re sorry a homicide occurred,” the NBA star said.
“When you have a warrant signed by the judge, you are doing your job, and I would imagine that you would fire back.”
Following the pregame show, angry viewers lashed out at the commentators, whereas one of them accused them of “throwing Black women under the bus.”
“Skin folk, not kin folk,” another person wrote.
As the former Virginia Senate candidate Herb Jones suggested, he “lost much respect” for the pair after “their comments regarding the murder of Breonna Taylor.”
Replaced!