LeBron James Faces Backlash For Deleted Tweet About Police Shooting

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James faces backlash for a deleted tweet about a police shooting involving Ma’Khia Bryant — a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio.

James’ deleted tweet showed a photo of officer Nicholas Reardon, with the caption, “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY,” on Wednesday.

What Happened?

The Columbus Division of Police released body camera footage. In the footage, you see the officer, identified as Reardon, getting out of his car at a house where police were dispatched after someone who said they’re being threatened called 911.

Walking towards the large group, Bryant swung a knife violently at a woman, who eventually fell backwards. The officer said several times to get down. Bryant then charged at another woman that was pinned against the car.

The officer then fired four shots at Bryant as people stood by watching the incident. Bryant then fell to the ground and the knife laid beside her.

The shooting occurred Tuesday after a jury in Minneapolis found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter. This was due to the George Floyd incident from May 2020.

James later followed up his tweet regarding the police shooting with a series of tweets explaining what the meaning of the tweet was in the first place.

However, even after James decided to delete the tweet, there was still tons of backlash. Mainly by many outspoken conservatives, including Candace Owens and Madison Gesiotto Gilbert.

James is currently unavailable to play as he is healing from a high right ankle sprain injury along with Anthony Davis. The Lakers currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference. Their next game will be on Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks.