NBA legends Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal agreed Thursday night that details matter in the Breonna Taylor case and that her death shouldn’t be “lumped in” with other high-profile deaths of Black people like George Floyd.
“I don’t think it was like George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery and things like that,” Mr. Barkley said on the TNT pregame show for the Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets game. “I just feel sad that this young lady lost her life. I think that this one was — the no-knock warrant is something that we need to get rid of, not just in Louisville, but across the board. But I am worried that we lump all these situations in together.”
The March death of Taylor, a 26-year-old Black EMT, sparked another wave of nationwide protests this week after a grand jury decided not to indict any police officers in her fatal shooting. Authorities said Taylor’s boyfriend had fired upon officers first after they entered her apartment to execute a search warrant.
Mr. Barkley argued that Taylor’s death can’t be put into the same category as George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in police custody after an officer pinned him to the ground by the neck in Minnesota, or the death of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man who was fatally shot by two White men in Georgia.
“I feel just bad that the young lady lost her life,” Mr. Barkley said. “But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend did shoot at the cops and shot a cop. So like I say, even though I’m really sorry she lost her life, I just don’t think that we can put this in the same situation as George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery. I just don’t believe that.”
Mr. O’Neal agreed with Mr. Barkley, saying officers were just doing their jobs by executing a warrant.
“I have to agree with Charles, this one is sort of lumped in,” Mr. O’Neal said. “When you talk about doing things right, you have to get a warrant signed and some states do allow no-knock warrants. They allow it. And everyone was asking for murder charges. When you talk about murder, you have to prove intent. Always. A homicide occurred and you know we’re sorry a homicide had to occur. But when you have a warrant that’s signed by the judge, you are doing your job, and if someone fires at you I would imagine that you would fire back.”
Mr. Barkley then launched into a rant against the Defund the Police movement, saying Black communities are in need of police reform, not less policing.
“I hear these fools on TV talking about ‘defund the police’ and things like that,” he said. “We need police reform and prison reform and things like that, because you know who’s not going to defund the cops? White neighborhoods and rich neighborhoods. So that notion they keep saying, I’m like, wait a minute, who are Black people supposed to call? Ghostbusters? When we have crime in our neighborhoods? … We need to stop that defund or abolish the cops crap.”
