‘Still seeking justice’
Lakers disappointed no charges filed against officers in Taylor’s death
ORLANDO, Fla. — As the Lakers began Wednesday to prepare for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against Denver, LeBron James texted his teammates in a group chat that an announcement was coming shortly from a Kentucky grand jury regarding Louisville police officers that were involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor.
The announcement: The grand jury brought no charges directly related to the killing, with prosecutors saying two officers who fired their weapons at the 26-year-old Black woman who was sleeping when she was shot, were justified in using force to protect themselves. The only charges were three counts of wanton endangerment against fired Officer Brett Hankison for shooting into Taylor’s neighbors’ homes during the raid on March 13.
Danny Green of the Lakers said it was “disappointing” to hear charges had not been filed and the response he saw from his teammates was that “nobody was really happy.”
“It was disappointing,” Green said on a video call with reporters. “I guess in a sense something was done, but it wasn’t enough. Most guys thought it was definitely not enough. It’s a tough one. But we’re still trying to make the proper steps.”
Green said after practice the Lakers needed time to process things.
“We need more time as a group, not just our team but everyone in the bubble and outside the bubble to figure out how we can continue to get progress in these certain aspects, in these certain categories, in certain communities, because with what happened today wasn’t enough,” Green said. “... Prayers [go] out to her family. We’re still thinking of them, we’re still seeking justice for them as well as many others.”
Green, who is the team’s union representative, said he could envision players inside the bubble gathering once again, like they did after the Milwaukee Bucks opted not to play a game in protest of police shooting an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, in the back seven times, in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 23.
“You know, obviously the results of what happened is not significant enough, not harsh enough in the eyes of people that are fighting for justice for Breonna Taylor, and I’m not sure legally what the process is next,” Lakers guard Alex Caruso said. “I’ll have to do some more research and find some more information out, but hopefully there are more steps to be able to gain better justice for her.”
James has spoken about Taylor throughout the summer. He has used social media and interview sessions in the NBA bubble to discuss issues of racism and police brutality, calling for justice in cases where Black people have been killed or seriously injured by police, and shared thoughts about what he sees as a broken relationship between police and the Black community.
James tweeted several times Wednesday after the grand jury decision, including saying, “The most DISRESPECTED person on earth is THE BLACK WOMAN! I promise you I’ll do my best to change this as much as I can and even more!!”
When two sheriff’s deputies were shot in Compton on Sept. 12, pundits and politicians, either implicitly or ex plicitly, pointed the finger at James and others who have spoken out about police brutality.
On Sunday night, during an interview with Spectrum SportsNet, James offered his condolences to the officers and stressed the importance of nonviolence.
On Tuesday night, hours before the grand jury ruling was announced, James was asked about the implication that his words incited violence against police.
“I’ve never in my 35 years ever condoned violence,” James said. “Never have. But I also know what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong, and I grew up in the inner city in a Black community in what we call the hood or the ghetto ... And I’ve seen a lot of [accounts] firsthand of a lot of Black people being racially profiled because of our color. And I’ve seen it throughout my whole life.
“And I’m not saying that all cops are bad . ... They’re not all bad. But when you see the videos that’s going on and you can see all over the — not only my hometown, but all over America, you continue to see the acts of violence towards my kind, I can’t do nothing but to speak about it and see the common denominator. But not one time have I ever said, ‘Let’s act violent towards cops.’ I just said that what’s going on in our community is not OK and we fear for that and we fear for our lives.”
Conservative pundit Candace Owens directly pointed the finger at James on Twitter. She reposted a tweet sent by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s twitter account that showed video of the shooting. She added her own comment to say it happened “because pea-brained celebrities that are idolized like @KingJames tell young black men that they are ‘literally being hunted.’ ”
Los Angeles County Commissioner Kathryn Barger also blamed anti-police rhetoric for the shooting, though she didn’t mention James. L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, in a radio appearance, asked James to give the county $175,000 to add to the existing reward for the shooter who attacked his deputies. Villanueva noted James’ comments about police shootings and the relationship between the Black community and police before making the request. James said he had “zero comment on the sheriff.”
“I do not condone violence towards anyone,” James said Tuesday. “Police, Black people, white people, anyone of color, anyone not of color because that’s not gonna ever make this world or America what we want it to be.”
But Wednesday, focus shifted to Taylor’s death and the grand jury. And it wasn’t just NBA players speaking out. Many others are disappointed after a Kentucky grand jury decided not to move forward.
“Justice has not been served,” Washington Mystics forward Tianna Hawkins tweeted after the announcement.
‘The most DISRESPECTED person on earth is THE BLACK WOMAN!’
— LeBron James
tweeted after grand jury announcement