Charles Barkley slammed for saying Taylor killing not comparable to Arbery, Floyd
Charles Barkley faces backlash after saying Breonna Taylor's killing is not comparable to the cases of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.
On the TNT pregame show for the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets game four of the Western Conference Finals, Charles Barley decided to share his thoughts on the calls for justice in the case of Breonna Taylor.
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“I don’t think this one was like George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery and things like that,” Barkley said on Thursday night.
He continued, “I feel sad that this young lady lost her life. I think this one was — the no-knock warrant is something we need to get rid of … across the board. But I am worried to lump all these situations in together.”
The former NBA player stated that although he is sympathetic toward the loss of life, he blamed her boyfriend for shooting at the police.
“And I just feel bad that the young lady lost her life. But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend shot at the cops and shot a cop. So like I say, even though I am really sorry she lost her life, I just don’t think we can put this in the same situation as George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery.”
Taylor was shot to death as Louisville police officers executed a now-banned, no-knock search warrant on her apartment. theGrio reported her boyfriend Kenneth Walker fired one shot in response to what he believed were intruders and is devastated he is catching blame.
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The statements were instantly met with backlash on social media. Twitter users called out the sports commentator for his stance.
Sports television and radio host on the social media platform as @AshNicoleMoss sarcastically second-guessed Barkleys comments.
Writer and editor @BritniDWrites noted the cases were not the same.
Rapper Plies joined the discussion, asking “Can Somebody Let Charles Barkley Know Her Boyfriend Shot @ A Cop Not Her”
Barkley’s comments found support in Shaquille O’Neal on-air.
“I have to agree with Charles, this one is sort of lumped in,” O’Neal said. “You have to get a warrant signed and some states do allow no-knock warrants. 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.”
In the same conversation, Barkley also made his opinion public on calls to defund the police, advocating for a reform system instead.
“I hear these fools on TV talk about ‘defund the police,’ 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,” he remarked. “So that notion that they keep saying that, I’m like wait a minute who are Black people supposed to call? Ghostbusters? We need police reform.”
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