Nets Fans Sitting Courtside Protest Kyrie Irving By Wearing ‘Fight Anti-Semitism’ T-Shirts
On Monday night, a group of Brooklyn Nets fans sat courtside and wore t-shirts with the message, “Fight anti-Semitism”— a message directed at Nets guard Kyrie Irving.
The protest came after Irving tweeted a clip from a documentary called “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” Alex Jones promoted the documentary, and the film contained many anti-Semitic tropes.
On Saturday night, Irving got into a back-and-forth with ESPN reporter Nick Friedell about the tweet he posted. Irving got defensive after Friedell asked why he would promote a hateful movie and book.
“Can you please stop calling it a promotion?” Irving snapped back. “What am I promoting?”
Nets owner Joe Tsai quickly condemned Irving’s action to tweet out the clip from the film.
“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-Semitic disinformation. I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity, or religion,” Tsai tweeted Friday night.
A group of protestors sat courtside in Brooklyn as the Nets defeated the Indiana Pacers Monday night and donned t-shirts with the message “Fight anti-Semitism” across the front.
Aaron Jungreis, a Nets season ticket holder, spoke to Ian O’Connor of the New York Post.
“They should not keep a guy like that around,” Jungreis told O’Connor. “A lot of people are going to cancel (their tickets). They have to discipline him in some way. We told him we love him anyway, even though we know he hates us.”
Jungreis said Irving responded to the eight fans in the t-shirts and told them he appreciated them, but “he said it sarcastically,” according to Jungreis.
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