Kobe Bryant on Ferguson: "The System Enables Young Black Men to Be Killed Behind the Mask of Law"
Kobe Bryant joined the many voices in sports speaking about the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, where on Monday a grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. On Tuesday Bryant, after practice, called for changes in the legal system and the standards for law enforcement officials.
“You can sit here and argue about it until we’re blue in the face and protest about it,” Bryant said following practice on Tuesday at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo. “Until the legal system, we have a serious legal system conversation, it’s going to keep on happening.”
He added that he thought there needed to be more accountability for law enforcement officials.
Again from the Daily News:
“What’s justifiable? What calls for legal action and what qualifies as the threshold in being able to use deadly force in that situation?” Bryant asked rhetorically. “Those are higher conversations that need to be had.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Bryant tweeted the above response to the grand jury’s decision, which set off riots and protests in Ferguson as well as protests around the country.