The owner of the Las Vegas Raiders said he “meant no disrespect” when he tweeted “I CAN BREATHE” Tuesday after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes last year.
Mark Davis admitted he posted the message to Twitter, which was widely criticized as insensitive, with many saying it mocked Floyd’s dying words in which he repeated “I can’t breathe.”
The image also contained the date of Chauvin’s conviction and the team’s logo.
Despite the backlash, Davis would not apologize and defended the post, then refused to delete it, saying that “it’s already out there.”
“That’s my tweet. That was me,” Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I don’t want anyone in the organization taking heat. I take full responsibility for that.”
Davis said he was only paraphrasing George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, who gave a statement after the verdict saying “Today, we are able to breathe again.”
“If I offended the family, then I’m deeply, deeply disappointed,” Davis told The Athletic. “I rarely, rarely post stuff, but I’m not into erasing something,” Davis said. “It’s not an apology. I’m not embarrassed by what I said ...”
Philonise Floyd said he was not offended and interpreted Davis’ words to mean the world could breathe again now that some closure had been reached in the infamous case, according to TMZ. He made no demands for the tweet to be taken down.
Eric Garner case
Davis’ tweet recalled a similar controversy in 2014 when supporters of the New York Police Department wore shirts emblazoned with “I can breathe” following the police killing of Eric Garner, who pleaded “I can’t breathe” 11 times as officers pinned him to the ground.
Garner’s words became the primary rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement ever since, with police custody deaths of unarmed Black men and women continuing unabated.
Davis, son of Raiders legend Al Davis, maintained that he knew nothing about the Eric Garner episode.
“Let me say this right off the bat: I was not aware of that,” he told The Athletic. “Absolutely not. I had no idea of that. That’s a situation that I was not aware of. I can see where there could be some negativity toward what I said based on that.”
Other reactions
Many others, including politicians, professional athletes and teams, also weighed in on the verdict in which Chauvin was found guilty on three charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
“ACCOUNTABILITY,” said NBA star LeBron James in a one-word tweet after the conviction.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted: “Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice ... Because of you and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice.”
But some social media users took issue with Pelosi’s statement, saying her words were just as audacious as those used by Davis.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also said he was pleased with the verdict but was later criticized for being tone deaf in his reaction.
“George Floyd came to Minneapolis to better his life. But ultimately his life will have bettered our city. The jury joined in a shared conviction that has animated Minneapolis for the last 11 months. They refused to look away and affirmed he should still be here today.”
Floyd’s death on Memorial Day last year reignited fierce debate about systemic racism and policing in the United States and sparked months of social justice protests around the world.
A cultural shift became apparent across the U.S., with corporate and social media executives, and the nation’s biggest professional sports leagues taking a stand against racial injustice.
One of the most notable changes came when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expressed solidarity with protesting NFL players and released a video last June in which he said, “We, the National Football League, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people.”
The commissioner’s move, which included recognition of Juneteenth as a league holiday, was an astonishing about-face from four years ago when the league blackballed quarterback Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem as a silent protest against police brutality.
Also in 2020, the NBA emblazoned its courts with the insignia of Black Lives Matter.
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