Former NBA All-Star says Hong Kong police should crackdown on protesters: If it was America 'the police would shoot to kill'
As violence in Hong Kong continues to spiral, a former NBA All-Star expressed his support for Hong Kong police and urged them to crack down on anti-Chinese protestors. The seven-feet-two-inch ex-center James Donaldson said American police would "shoot to kill" if a similar protest broke out in the United States.
The former 1988 All-Star member said Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey's tweet supporting the movement was "crazy" and "ridiculous" before claiming "the vast majority of Americans are totally ignorant about the ways of the world."
Furthermore, he also blamed young people for being unaware that everything in Hong Kong was given to them by China. Unsurprisingly, the controversial interview went viral in China after state media reported about it.
The two-minute conversation emerged after a student activist who was trying to grab an officer's gun was shot with a live round at close range, and a 57-year-old man was set on fire during an argument. Fortunately, both survived.
The 62-year-old former athlete made his remarks during a recent trip to the Asian financial hub, according to the video. During the interview, he first praised Hong Kong for "being a role model for all these kind of great things."
Commenting on Morey's tweet, Donaldson said: "this is the Houston Rockets general manager who tweeted out some crazy, ridiculous statement about standing with Hong Kong."
"But it just shows the total ignorance of most Americans. The vast majority of Americans are totally ignorant about the ways of the world," he added. The former basketball star was subsequently shown a video believed to be of a police officer being stabbed in the neck by a protestor.
"If this happened in America, the police would shoot to kill," Donaldson said, adding he wished Morey would see this and reflect on his tweet. He then took a shot at CNN for not showing violence by the demonstrators to its American viewers.
"No countries in the world would put up with this kind of insanity. They would all crackdown on it and take order back in the business," he added. "This is what the Hong Kong police need to do."
In conclusion, Donaldson claimed China "does everything" for Hong Kong. "The young people today don't understand that China...[they] give them (Hong Kong) water, they give them electricity and they do everything," he said. According to Donaldson, young adults in Hong Kong were under the wrong impression that the West "will take care of them."
"The Americans and British cannot do anything for Hong Kong anymore. Hong Kong belongs to China," he insisted.