NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley received criticism after defending the police who were involved in the killing of EMT Breonna Taylor.
What We Know:
- Protests broke out after it was discovered that the officers involved in the murder of Breonna Taylor would not be charged, except for one, Brett Hankinson. Hankinson was charged on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree after firing 10 shots in Taylor’s house and some of those bullets entered the neighbor’s house, which had a pregnant wife, a child, and a male. And now Hankinson faces up to five years on each of the three counts if he is convicted.
- While Charles Barkley does feel sorry for Taylor losing her life, he said on NBA on TNT that he doesn’t think that Taylor’s situation should be roped in with George Floyd’s and Ahmaud Arbery’s situation. “This one, I don’t think it was like George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and things like that,” he said. “I feel bad this young lady lost her life, but, you know, we do have to take into account her boyfriend did shoot at the cops and shot a cop.”
- Hall of Famer and commentator Shaquille O’Neal agreed with Barkley. “You have to get a warrant signed, and some states do allow no-knock warrants,” O’Neal said. “And everyone was asking for murder charges. When you talk about murder, you have to show intent. 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.”
- Barkley also talked about how he doesn’t agree with defunding the police because they are there to protect whenever there’s a crime. “You know, I hear these fools on TV talking about ‘defund the police’ and things like that,” he said. “We need police reform and prison reform and things like that. Because you know, who ain’t gonna defund the cops? White neighborhoods and rich neighborhoods…Who are Black people supposed to call? Ghostbusters? When we have crime in our neighborhoods? We need police reform. Like I say, White people – especially rich White people – they’re always gonna have cops, so we need to stop that ‘defund’ or ‘abolish the cops’ crap.”
- Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko said on Twitter that he was “disgusted” by Barkley’s words.
I didn’t know I could be this disgusted by Charles Barkley.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) September 25, 2020
In August, Former NBA guard Kenny Smith walked off the set of NBA on TNT in solidarity with the Milwaukee Bucks who refused to play in their playoff game as a protest to the shooting of Jacob Blake. Barkley said he was “pissed” at Smith’s actions because he should’ve informed them of his decision before doing it.
