LeBron James tweeted “you’re next” to one of the agents who responded to the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio, part of a “pattern of behavior” by the left winger, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told “Fox News Primetime” Wednesday.
“The Left consistently chases, attacks and demonizes police officers … often before the facts are known, often before there is any evidence of what happened,” Cruz told host Ben Domenech, “but their immediate response,” when an incident occurs., is that police officers are wrong.
And in this case, ‘you’re next’ could certainly be interpreted by some as a call to violence. I think it was an extremely irresponsible message for LeBron James to send. ”
Cruz noted that James, 36, essentially ignored the fact that Columbus Police Department released body camera footage showing Bryant attacking another female with a knife.
LEBRON JAMES ADDRESSES NOW REMOVED TWEET: ‘I’M SO TIRED OF SEEING BLACK PEOPLE KILLED BY THE POLICE’
“It was an unstable situation anyway,” said the senator. “The woman who was murdered wielded a knife, was violent, seemed to threaten it [lives] of others. According to an investigation, this police officer may have saved the life of a possible victim of a knife attack and that we should not jump to conclusions. “
The Texas lawmaker added that Ohio authorities are right to further stimulate the shooting, but that fact doesn’t alter the fact that high-profile people like James are rushing to judge
“The facts need to be established, but the left doesn’t care about the facts, they care about demonizing and attacking law enforcement officers and I think it’s wrong,” he said.
James later deleted the ‘you’re next’ tweet and replaced it with a short thread trying to explain his feelings.
“I am so damn tired of seeing black people killed by the police. I deleted the tweet because it is being used to create more hatred,” said James. “[This is] all over the system and they always use our words to create more racism. “
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James ‘tweet followed responses from people like Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who wrote that “while the verdict was being read in the Derek Chauvin trial, Columbus police shot and killed a 16-year-old girl. Her name was Ma’ Khia. Bryant. She should be alive now. “
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Tweeted that “Black girls deserve to grow up and become women.”
Greg Norman of Fox News contributed to this report.