JR Smith says he beat a 'white boy's a**' for vandalizing his car at protest, fans pray NBA doesn't suspend him
NBA star JR Smith beat the daylights out of a man who smashed his truck during the protests in Los Angeles. In the video that went viral, he can be seen unleashing several kicks on the man and many punches on the head. Finally, some of Smith's friends stepped in and the man ran away. In a video shared on his Instagram story, Smith said, "One of these motherf****ing white boys didn't know where he was going and broke my f***ing window in my truck. Broke my s**t."
He said that this truck was parked in a residential area, away from the stores that were being looted. "I chased him down and whooped his a**," Smith said. He emphasized that the incident was not fuelled by race or hatred, it was revenge for smashing his truck. "He didn't know whose window he broke and he got his a** whooped," he said. There was much cheering on social media, while others had mixed opinions. One user wrote, "Happy JR Smith day." Another tweeted, "jr smith said he hunt that mf down to beat his a** & i felt him." Another wrote, "JR Smith for president."
"JR Smith is a national treasure that must be protected at all costs," a fan tweeted. "I wholly support JR Smith for beating up the clown vandalizing his truck. That said, if a white athlete were assaulting an African American the headline would read 'Brian Scalabrine Assaults Peaceful Protester'," one user wrote, who seemed to be on the fence. Fans hope that Smith will not be suspended from NBA. "Jr Smith did the right thing Kuttos to him. I really hope the NBA commissioner doesn't decide to be an a**hole & suspend him for something that he did right," a fan tweeted. "The NBA better not fine JR Smith," another prayed. "JR Smith beating someone’s a** is mad funny to me. Rules don’t apply anymore. From now on you are getting the consequences of your actions on site," a fan tweeted. However, one called him a 'hypocrite' and said he should not have done it.
Protests have been ongoing in the United States ever since a police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on a black man's, George Floyd, neck for over eight minutes, killing him last week. People have taken to the streets to protest against the prevailing systemic racism.