LeBron James made it clear he wants justice for Breonna Taylor. As the Los Angeles Lakers arrived for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, James and his teammates were seen wearing a red hat that had the “Make America Great Again” slogan made popular by President Donald Trump. However, the words “Great Again” were crossed out, and the message “Arrest The Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor” was printed below them. The Lakers posted photos of the team wearing the hats on Instagram.
“You know, this is something that we continue to put our foot on the gas, continue to pressure,” LeBron James said to reporters after the Lakers lost to the Trail Blazers via ESPN.”You know, the situation that’s going on in Louisville, Kentucky. An innocent woman being killed in Breonna Taylor, a woman who had a bright future and her future was taken away from her.” James went on to say there have been “no arrests” and “no justice.” He then added they “want to continue to shed light on the situation.”
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Taylor, a Black emergency medical technician, was killed in Louisville after officers in plainclothes performed a “no-knock” warrant at her home related to a narcotics investigation. Officers reportedly shot Taylor eight times, and no drugs were found. She and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were awoken by officers who used a battering ram to enter the apparent. Walker said he shot his gun in self-defense became he thought the home was breaking broken into. As mentioned by James, none of the officers involved were arrested, but Detective Brett Hankinson was fired. Also, Jon Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove were put on administrative reassignment.
James and the Lakers aren’t the only athletes to speak up about Taylor. Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills was arrested back in July at Taylor protest in Louisville. Stills and the group of protesters were at the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who has faced pressure for not charging the officers who shot Taylor.
At the start of the Baseball season in late-July, the Tampa Bay Rays went to Twitter and wrote: “Today is Opening Day, which means it’s a great day to arrest the killers of Breonna Taylor.” The tweet has been liked over 358,000 times with over 105 retweets.
