On Monday, December 28th a grand jury decided not to indict the two police officers; Timothy Loehmann, who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice and his partner, Frank Garmback. In predictable but understandable fashion, the social media landscape went into a uproar in what appears to be another case of the one sided affair favoring the law enforcement/those of the Caucasian race instead of minority victims.
Because the Tamir Rice incident happened in Cleveland, Black Lives Matter activists such as Tariq Toure on social media figured calling on Ohio’s own and current Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James to sit out in protest for the lack of justice for Rice would be a lay-up, no pun intended. Even the hashtag #NoJusticeNoLebron picked up steam in order to further influence the star basketball player. But unfortunately, James has spoken out in the matter and it appears he doesn’t have the much needed information he would need to actually sit out.
From ESPN
“For me, I’ve always been a guy who’s took pride in knowledge of every situation that I’ve ever spoke on,” James said following the Cavs’ win over the Denver Nuggets. “And to be honest, I haven’t really been on top of this issue. So it’s hard for me to comment. I understand that any lives that [are] lost, what we want more than anything is prayer and the best for the family, for anyone. But for me to comment on the situation, I don’t have enough knowledge about it.”
It is a wise decision on James part not to indulge in something he’s admittedly not all the way aware about. It will be interesting to see what he will do if he does read more into the case, though. But in light of the whole situation, James did take a stand for Trayvon Martin, in which he and his then Miami Heat teammates dressed in hoodies to let those upset about his murder know they weren’t alone. And also, let’s not forget he wore a “I Can’t Breathe” T-Shirt to honor Eric Garner. With that being said, James should definitely get the benefit of the doubt for the time being.
