LeBron James on Riots at U.S. Capitol: ‘We Live in Two Americas’

LeBron James says that the reaction of police to protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday shows that we live in “two Americas.”

The Lakers star told reporters Thursday night that if it had been “his kind” partaking in the unrest, the reaction from police would have been far different.

“And that was a prime example of that yesterday, and if you don’t understand that or don’t see that after seeing what you saw yesterday, then you really need to take a step back — not even just one step, but maybe four or five, or even 10 steps backwards and ask yourself how do you want your kids, or how do you want your grandkids, or how do we want America to be viewed as?” James said. “Do we want to live in this beautiful country?

“If those were my kind storming the Capitol, what would have been the outcome? And I think we all know,” James said. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts — we already know what would’ve happened to my kind if anyone would have even got close to the Capitol, let alone storm inside the offices, inside the hallways.”

“I couldn’t help but wonder, if it was my kind storming the Capitol, what would have been the outcome?"

LeBron speaks about yesterday’s events in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/iiy6MM3iMS

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 8, 2021

James blamed Trump personally, for inciting the protesters.

“The events that took place yesterday was a direct correlation of the president that’s in the seat right now  — of his actions, his beliefs, his wishes,” James said. “He cares about nobody besides himself. Nobody. Absolutely nobody. He doesn’t care about this country. He doesn’t care about his family. He doesn’t care about anybody besides himself.”

James’ belief that the police reaction against a group of black protesters would have been harsher, is a belief that’s been shared by many, including Joe Biden. However, there’s no evidence to support that conclusion. Common police crowd dispersal methods such as tear gas, pepper balls, pepper spray, and flashbangs were used against the Capitol protesters the same way they have been used against BLM protesters all year.

Moreover, deadly force was used by police against the predominantly white protesters on Wednesday, when an unarmed Air Force veteran was shot and killed inside the Capitol.