Former NBA players Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal are under attack on Twitter after defending the Louisville police officers who shot Breonna Taylor and placing blame on her boyfriend for firing first.
Barkley and O’Neal deliberated the decision not to indict the officers involved in the Taylor shooting during TNT’s NBA pregame show, prior to Game 4 of the LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets Playoff game.
Barkley reasoned that Taylor’s death shouldn’t be grouped with the police killing of George Floyd, because the officers entered her apartment under a judge’s orders and only returned fire once Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker shot first.
“I don’t think this one was like George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery and things like that,” Barkley said. “I feel sad that this young lady lost her life. I think the no-knock warrant is something we need to get rid of across the board. But I am worried to lump all these situations in together.”
God bless Barkley. He also is the only NBA commentator willing to point out that Brianna Taylor’s boyfriend fired first and hit a cop before they returned fire at him. The lack of basic factual understanding in this case is staggering. pic.twitter.com/2DFIs1XjNn
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 25, 2020
Barkley said he felt bad that Taylor was killed during the execution of the warrant. “But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend shot at the cops and shot a cop,” he stated. “So like I say, even though I am really sorry she lost her life, I just don’t think we can put this in the same situation as George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery.”
O’Neal, who has been a reserve deputy with law enforcement in four states since retiring from the NBA in 2011, concurred with Barkley’s assessment.
“I have to agree with Charles, this one is sort of lumped in,” O’Neal said. “You have to get a warrant signed and some states do allow no-knock warrants. And everyone was asking for murder charges. When you talk about murder, you have to show intent.”
He argued that the officers were doing their jobs when they returned gunfire. “A homicide occurred and we’re sorry a homicide occurred. When you have a warrant signed by the judge, you are doing your job, and I would imagine that you would fire back.”
Later in the telecast, Barkley blasted the “defund the police” movement, instead pushing for reform.
“We have to really be careful on these, you know, I hear these fools on TV talking about ‘defund the police’ and things like that,” Barkley commented. “We need police reform and prison reform and things like that because you know who ain’t going to defund the cops? White neighborhoods and rich neighborhoods.”
He posited that black neighborhoods would suffer from eliminating the police presence.
“Who are black people supposed to call, Ghostbusters, when we have crime in our neighborhoods?” He continued. “We need to stop that defund and abolish the cops crap.”
Charles Barkley says defunding police is a ridiculous idea. “Who are black people supposed to call? The Ghostbusters?” pic.twitter.com/LlJQfLzxUq
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 25, 2020
Critics on Twitter sounded off against both former NBA legends.
#CharlesBarkley is the Kanye West of retired #NBA players
— TheSportsWhisperer…Monte??⚾️?⚽️ (@Montejp231) September 25, 2020
https://twitter.com/waltsmooth/status/1309457818572017665
NBA & all their symbols of social justice weren’t able to get a single charge against the police that murdered #BreonnaTaylor. To add insult to injury they let 2 of the biggest clowns try to make sense out of being ambushed in your own dam living room. #Barkley #Shaq
— TruthBeTold (@Big6domino) September 25, 2020
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It would be helpful if people would look into the actual facts of what happened in this incident. The police knocked and yelled “police” before entering the apartment. There is a witness to attest to this. Upon entering the apartment, Taylor’s boyfriend began shooting at the officers. The policeman then returned fire. What was he supposed to do? Stand there and allow the officers to be shot? Taylor was shot inadvertently as this gun battle went on. She was not “murdered”. They did not shoot her on purpose.
Just like all the other black criminals that have been killed by cops (doing their jobs). Breonna had a wrap sheet 49 pages long of her being a DRUG DEALER & killing people herself by selling drugs to them. She first was the murderer of innocent people. She died by how she lived. Go to You Tub & put in Taylor report.com. This is never mentioned by the media