Wednesday was a turbulent day in the United States as a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. – and did so without much pushback from law enforcement.
The images shook everyone, including the sports world, as athletes and coaches reacted on social media as the events unfolded in the nation’s capital.
A common theme among many, though, was how a mob of predominantly white people were able to break into a secure federal government building with ease while Black protestors and citizens are often abused by law enforcement.
“When you saw the protest in the summer and you saw the riots, or more the police and the national guard and the army, and then you see this and you saw nothing…it basically proves a point about privileged life in a lot of ways,” 76ers head coach Doc Rivers said before their game against the Wizards. “I will say it because I don’t think a lot of people want to. Can you imagine today, if those were all Black people storming the capitol, and what would have happened?
“That, to me, is a picture that’s worth a thousand words for all of us to see, and probably something for us to reckon with again. No police dogs turned on people, no billy clubs hitting people. People peacefully being escorted out of the capitol. So, it shows you can peacefully disperse a crowd, would be the one thing. But it’s a sad day, in a lot of ways, not good four our country.”
National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts expressed similar outrage, and said her conversations with players throughout the day focused on the racial double standard in the country – especially coming a day after it was announced that the police officers in the Jacob Blake shooting would not be charged.
“Today started yesterday, when the Jacob Blake shooting was being justified, although I’m not sure there was a single human surprised at that finding,” she told ESPN. “Every single player that contacted me – or that I contacted – saw the same connection to the Blake shooting being justified. We were watching these people essentially committing treason at the Capitol and I have yet to hear about a single shot being fired.”
There was one fatality, unfortunately, amid the mayhem that took place on Wednesday – but how police reacted was generally different to what Black protestors often experience.
Roberts said there were no conversations with the NBA about postponing any of the 11 games scheduled on Wednesday night.
The Celtics and Heat left the court before their game, but returned and released a joint statement, which addressed the shooting and the storming of the Capitol.
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