Alabama fans descended upon Nashville Saturday for the SEC semifinals, making their presence felt at Bridgestone Arena with t-shirts reading “Killin’ Our Way Through the SEC in ’23,” an obvious reference to the recent shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris, resulting in murder charges being brought against former Crimson Tide player Darius Miles.
Star freshman Brandon Miller, who, just this week, was named SEC Player of the Year, was named in the police report, allegedly retrieving the gun that Miles and accomplice Michael Davis would use to fatally shoot Harris. While authorities in Tuscaloosa declined to charge him with any crime, Miller has continued to be a source of controversy, tainting what has arguably been the most successful season in Alabama’s 100-year history.
Miller was reprimanded last month for performing a police “pat-down” during pregame introductions, seemingly making light of a heinous crime that cost a young woman her life while modeling a defiance that fans have quickly adopted as a rallying cry. Tasteless and completely lacking in self-awareness, Saturday’s shameful display was widely lamented on social media, criticized as tone-deaf while perpetuating violence against women.
It’s inexplicable why anyone would wear something so utterly reprehensible, lacking any shred of empathy toward the victim and her family, though luckily this accounts for only a small sliver of Alabama’s fan base, with many Crimson Tide supporters going out of their way to distance themselves from this appalling cruelty.
Likely headed for a top seed in March Madness (they advanced to Sunday’s conference championship with a 72-61 win over Missouri), it will be fascinating to see how Alabama is received nationally, and if that will embolden their own fans to be even more hostile come tournament time.
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