Cleveland mom is 'sad' LeBron James hasn't stood behind her son's death
Samaria Rice, a Cleveland mother whose son was fatally shot in an incident with the police, has called out LeBron James and expressed her disappointment that the Cleveland Cavaliers star hasn't used his fame and platform to publicly stand behind her son's death.
Here's the background info you need to know: Last week, a grand jury decided not to indict two Cleveland police officers involved in the shooting that killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in November 2014. That ignited protests, and activists used social media to call for LeBron's help, wanting him to sit out basketball games until justice was served.
LeBron has not done that, and after a game on Dec. 29, he explained that he didn't know enough about this specific incident to offer comment (via Cleveland.com):
In the past, LeBron has been one of many athletes to speak about social issues such as the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner. For the latter, LeBron wore an "I CAN'T BREATHE" shirt in warmups before a game in Brooklyn last season to protest a Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer in the choking death of Garner.
That LeBron hasn't done something similar for Tamir Rice is why Samaria is now "quite sad." She also acknolwedged that some athletes have spoken out but underscores her point that she wants more athletes to speak up, specifically LeBron. From Newsone:
Here's the video of Samaria's sitdown interview:
Teddy Mitrosilis works in social content development at FOX Sports Digital. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.
