Utah Jazz Players Speak Out About George Floyd Video
May 28, 2020, 12:09 PM | Updated: May 29, 2020, 4:22 pm
Two men wear shirts stating "Rest in Power George Floyd" (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The video showing the killing of George Floyd elicited strong reactions from members of the Utah Jazz. Floyd died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a Minnesota police officer. Footage of the officer’s knee on Floyd’s neck has led to riots in the streets of Minneapolis. Four officers have been fired during the investigation.
Jazz players took to social media to make their voices heard after Floyd’s death. Warning, the video featured in these tweets may be distressing.
Jazz Players React To Floyd Video
Jazz center Rudy Gobert was one of the first players to speak out about the video of Floyd’s death.
“If you let your coworker do that to another human being without trying to stop him or talk to him out of it, you are as gulty [sic] as he is,” Gobert tweeted. “Frustrating for the majority of good cops that take a lot of risk doing their job the right way everyday.”
If you let your coworker do that to another human being without trying to stop him or talk to him out of it, you are as gulty as he is. Frustrating for the majority of good cops that take a lot of risk doing their job the right way everyday. https://t.co/HncJfZcVeD
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) May 26, 2020
Gobert has also recently tweeted about an incident in Central Park. Video shows a woman falsely accusing an African American man of threatening her with violence.
Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell tweeted about the violent death of Floyd.
“SICKENING!!!” Mitchell typed in all caps. “I HAVE NO WORDS MAN!!!”
SICKENING!!! I HAVE NO WORDS MAN!!! https://t.co/vrFJAcRw55
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) May 27, 2020
Mitchell has since shared several tweets from activists who have spoken out about the video. The guard retweeted Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.
King’s tweet showed the police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck next to a photo San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick faced backlash for kneeling during the national anthem in protest over police violence towards the African-American community.
If you’re unbothered or mildly bothered by the 1st knee, but outraged by the 2nd, then, in my father’s words, you’re “more devoted to order than to justice.” And more passionate about an anthem that supposedly symbolizes freedom than you are about a Black man’s freedom to live. pic.twitter.com/kxpVOEeTNR
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 26, 2020
Georges Niang was the first Jazz player to tweet about the Floyd video.
“Man this is so sad,” Niang said in the tweet.
Jazz and Salt Lake City Stars forward Jarrell Brantley tweeted about the incident. Brantley tweeted “This gotta stop” over a post from Complex Sports. The tweeted showed LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose, Damian Lillard, and Isaiah Thomas wearing ‘I Can’t Breathe’ shirts. NBA players wore the shirts after the death of Eric Garner in New York City. New York police officers choked Garner to death for selling cigarettes on the street.
This gotta stop. https://t.co/MuWc5JFbfS
— Jarrell Brantley (@jstuntbrantley) May 27, 2020
Several Jazz players have retweeted others’ reactions to the video.
Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson retweeted a message that read “Hate is learned.” Nigel Williams-Goss retweeted several posts showing violent white criminals being arrested peacefully.
Meanwhile, Justin Wright-Foreman retweeted a post that read, “Being Black is a blessing. Never forget that.”
