LeBron James Says Guns Make Black People Feel ‘Hunted’

While speaking to reporters following Monday night’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said that black people feel like they are being “hunted” right now.

USA Today’s LeBronWire reports that James sat down after the game and reflected on the officer-involved shooting of Kenosha, Wisconsin’s Jacob Blake. He talked about black people and law enforcement, and suggested that black people feel “hunted” right now.

He talked of seeing black kids fear police in 2020, and related a story of how he feared police when he was a child. He talked about seeing a recent video of a kid hiding behind a truck when officers drove by, out of fear of police. And James said that he used to hide from the police too, as a kid, because he was “scared” of the officers:

Lakers’ LeBron James on a video of kid shooting hoops at home hiding from police: “That s***’s sad. I know what he’s going through. When I lived in the projects, if we saw a cop, we hid behind the brick wall. When the lights went on, we ran, even if we didn’t do anything wrong.” pic.twitter.com/aR8cEZ1m3M

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) August 25, 2020

Some of his other comments were more gun focused, with no mention of police.

For example, Washington Post NBA writer Ben Golliver reported James saying: “I think Firearms are a huge issue in America. I don’t how you clean that up. I’m not saying that I got all the answers, but guns are a huge issue in America. They’re not used for just hunting, that a lot of people do for sport. For Black people right now, we hear hunting we think you’re hunting us.”

On October 2, 2015, Breitbart News reported that James responded to the October 1, 2015, Umpqua Community College mass shooting by calling for gun control. Associated Press reporter Tom Withers quoted James saying, “There’s no room for guns.”

Breitbart News reported that James again talked gun control days after the February 14, 2018, Parkland high shooting. And on March 26, 2018, Breitbart News reported that James tweeted support for March for Our Lives members who were “making an impact.”

March for Our Lives is the gun control group founded by Parkland high school gun control activists following the February 2018 attack.

On October 4, 2018, Breitbart News reported that James uses good guys with guns to keep his home and family safe. TMZ Sports reported that James has “at least 10 armed security personnel…including off-duty police officers,” guarding his home.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.