LeBron James explains why he deleted a tweet on the killing of black teenage girl, Ma’Khia Bryant

NBA star LeBron James was faced with backlash for “inciting violence” in a now-deleted tweet he made about the unjust killings of African Americans by police officers. He shared an image of the police officer involved in the bloody shooting of Ma’Khaia Byrant, 16.

I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police,” James said in a tweet. “I took the tweet down because it's being used to create more hate – This isn’t about one officer. It’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY.”

The deleted tweet was in reaction to the news of a white police officer, Nicholas Reardon, involved shooting in Columbus, Ohio. The sports superstar originally tweeted: “YOU’RE NEXT,” hash-tagging “ACCOUNTABILITY” alongside Reardon’s photo and an hourglass emoji.

In a report of an attempted stabbing, the police were called late Tuesday to the scene, and bodycam footage showed Bryant being shot as she attacked another Black teen with a knife. The knife attack was in an attempt to stab the other teen. In the video, Bryant is seeing swinging a knife wildly at the other person, as the officer walked towards her. He kept shouting at Bryant several times to get down but there was no response. The officer eventually fires four shots, and Bryant is seen falling on the ground with the knife lying on the sidewalk next to her. She was rushed to the hospital after the incident, but was declared dead, the police said.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Gither said the whole situation was a tragedy that befell the city. He acknowledged that based on details shown in the bodycam, the “officer took action to protect another young girl in our community. But a family is grieving tonight. And this young [16-year-old] girl will never be coming home.”

According to Franklin County Children Services, Bryant was a foster child under the care of her foster family.

The Tuesday shooting occurred on the same day a jury in Minneapolis declared former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter for the killing of George Floyd in May 2020.

James reacted to the judgment of Chauvin with one word: “accountability.”

Lakers’ forward and James’ teammate Anthony Davis said he believes many people are satisfied with the verdict and “just being able to give that family peace, [and] a peace of mind.” He added that that was “a first step for injustice.”

“I think it was a good day, just for the world, to be able to get justice, because you see so many times where it doesn’t happen,” Davis said.