Former football star OJ Simpson criticized LeBron James for his tweet targeting the Ohio cop that fatally shot Ma’Khia Bryant on Tuesday.
Simpson emphasized that James should have been “patient” before commenting on the incident in a video shared to his Twitter account Thursday. James had tweeted and then deleted a photo of the Ohio cop involved saying, “YOU’RE NEXT,” as previously reported.
WATCH:
Wait for the facts! #LeBronJames pic.twitter.com/As2zaGQD4M
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) April 22, 2021
“You can’t fight every battle,” Simpson said during the video. “You gotta pick your battles. It’s a war that must be fought but sometimes you need to take your time and be a little more patient before you comment on some of these bad incidents that are happening with police departments. This one, LeBron should’ve waited.” (RELATED: Celebrities React To Fatal Shooting Of Ma’Khia Bryant)
Simpson went on to criticize the media for showing “edited versions” of the incident between Bryant and police.
“I’m a little upset with most of the media because they showed us edited versions of what took place with the girl with the knife,” Simpson continued. “They made it sound as if it was another police officer overreacting and killing a young Black American. Well, from what I saw when I saw the full thing, the police had no choice. He responded … in that instant, if he hadn’t done what he did — it appeared to me another young American would’ve had her life taken.”
Ma’Khia Bryant, 16, was fatally shot by police outside of her foster home in Ohio, The New York Times reported. Initial reports claimed she was unarmed at the time of the shooting, but released body cam footage seemingly showed Bryant wielding a knife during the altercation.