Fox's Mark Levin blasts LeBron James for backing Colin Kaepernick after George Floyd tragedy: 'How dare he'
Fox News host and conservative commentator Mark Levin hit out at LeBron James after the basketball star spoke about George Floyd's killing and brought up police brutality against minorities in America.
Protests erupted across the country following the disturbing death of the 46-year-old at the presence of four police officers in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, which was filmed on camera by a witness at the scene.
In the video, an officer later identified as Derek Chauvin could be seen kneeling on Floyd's neck for several minutes even as he pleaded to be released because he could not breathe. Floyd eventually loses consciousness and becomes unresponsive, and was declared dead at the Hennepin County Medical Center a short while later.
The incident sparked violent riots in Minneapolis, with several celebrities, including Cardi B, Ciara, Viola Davis, Demi Lovato, and Michael Moore, already weighing in on the situation and calling for swift action against the perpetrators.
LeBron James addressed the incident on his Instagram page, posting a collage of a picture of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck alongside another one where Colin Kaepernick was seen kneeling during the National Anthem before the kickoff for an NFL game.
"Do you understand NOW!!??!!?? Or is it still blurred to you??" he captioned the image, before adding '#StayWoke'.
Kaepernick had drawn criticism following a preseason game in 2016 where he sat during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner as a protest against racial injustice, systemic oppression, and police brutality in the country.
Levin, speaking on his syndicated radio show, 'The Mark Levin Show,' slammed James for the picture and claimed the Los Angeles Lakers star "knows nothing about anything related to this."
"When you have LeBron James, who knows nothing about anything related to this. But he's enormously popular in the culture. He's followed by a lot of people. When he puts out there a tweet which shows the cop with his knee on the back of Mr Floyd's neck and then shows [Colin] Kaepernick taking a knee at the beginning of a football game during the national anthem."
"How dare he do that?!" Levin fumed. "How dare LeBron James do such a thing! And there are others. And there are others."
In the same episode, Levin also went after California politicians for continuing to extend "aggressive" stay-at-home orders that prevent small businesses from opening while simultaneously failing to police looters and rioters.
"Very aggressive in attacking people who want to open their salons or their gyms, or pastors who want to open their churches," he said. "Very aggressive in attacking them, all over the media, all these politicians. But they ignore the violence of looters and rioters who are not interested in justice, when in fact justice is being pursued as aggressively as I’ve ever seen — by all levels of government."
"All levels of government. They are taking this extremely seriously, as they must," he added.
All four Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's death have been fired. Following protests, Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, though many have suggested the charges were not reflective of the crime since he repeatedly ignored pleas from both Floyd and other witnesses.