Obama Praises Player Protests in Response to Jacob Blake Shooting: ‘It’s Going to Take All Our Institutions to Stand Up For Our Values’
Former President Barack Obama praised players for protesting their games following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Obama’s admiration comes as players on the Milwaukee Bucks sat out their game on Wednesday in protest of the shooting, sparking the rest of the NBA and the WNBA to postpone all of their games for the night.
Obama also shared a video of Los Angeles Clippers’ Head Coach Doc Rivers condemning the Republican Party for focusing on “law and order” and stoking fear during the unrest.
The former president shared coach’s words on Twitter with his own message, writing, “I commend the players on the Bucks for standing up for what they believe in, coaches like Doc Rivers, and the NBA and WNBA for setting an example. It’s going to take all our institutions to stand up for our values.”
I commend the players on the @Bucks for standing up for what they believe in, coaches like @DocRivers, and the @NBA and @WNBA for setting an example. It’s going to take all our institutions to stand up for our values. pic.twitter.com/rUGETgAt7P
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 27, 2020
“All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear,” Rivers said of the GOP National Convention. “We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones that we’re denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung. We’ve been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear.”
