Family backing
‘I CAN BREATHE 4-20-21’ tweet brought franchise much criticism
George Floyd’s brother supports a controversial tweet by the Raiders.
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, thanked the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after owner Mark Davis took responsibility for a widely criticized tweet responding to the verdict against Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin that was sent from the official team account.
The tweet read “I CAN BREATHE 4-20-21” in large white capital letters against a black background. It was posted after Chauvin was found guilty on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd. Floyd had said repeatedly “I can’t breathe” as Chauvin pressed his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds.
In response to criticism against the tweet, Philonise Floyd on Wednesday issued a statement through the family’s attorney.
“On behalf of our family, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the Las Vegas Raiders organization and its leadership for their support of our family and for our nation’s ongoing pursuit of justice and equality for all,” he said. “Now, more than ever, we must come together as one and continue on in this fight. For the first time in almost a year, our family has taken a breath. And I know that goes for so many across the nation and globe, as well.”
The original tweet, pinned atop the team’s feed for a time, has been retweeted more than 8,000 times, with over 71,000 quote tweets and nearly 48,000 likes. Many Twitter users called it tone deaf. “This is the worst tweet I’ve ever seen,” one user wrote. Others wrote “massive yikes” and a bad tweet that was “Hall of Fame worthy.”
LeBron James first tweeted “ACCOUNTABILITY” after the verdict was announced, then reacted
strongly after seeing the Raiders’ reaction.
“This is real ???? Nah man this ain’t it at all.” James tweeted.
It wasn’t just liberal-leaning sports voices confounded by the message. Conservative sports commentator Clay Travis was also among those who couldn’t believe the Raiders’ response.
“I understand Mark Davis
is taking responsibility for it. But there’s no way an NFL owner is making this graphic and Tweeting it from his phone. Had to be a team effort,” Travis tweeted.
“That’s my tweet. That was me,” Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I don’t want anyone in the organization taking heat. I take full responsibility for that.
“I was driving home from a meeting when the verdict came in. Soon after, I was listening to George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, speak. And he said, ‘Today, we are able to breathe again.’ I took my lead from him. In my mind, that was all I needed to say — ‘I can breathe.’ ”
Davis defended his words on Tuesday.
“I believe it has a lot of context,” Davis said. Chauvin “was on his neck for more than nine minutes and was found guilty on all counts. And now, his knee is fully off his neck. Unfortunately, it’s a little too late.”
Davis told ESPN he “meant no disrespect” and did not plan to delete the tweet.
“I felt that was a powerful statement,” Davis said. “Today was a day where I can breathe, and we can all breathe again because justice was served. But we have a lot of work to do still on social justice and police brutality.”
Davis told the ReviewJournal that, while he doesn’t use Twitter, he passed the words to the team’s social media personnel.
“I think justice was served,” Davis said. “It’s rare I make statements about anything and if I thought it offended the (Floyd) family, I would feel very badly and apologize. Other than that, I’m not apologizing. I honesty believe after listening to Philonise, this is a day that we can all breathe.
“We still have a lot of work to do. It’s not the end, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.”