Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James spoke out against the violence that erupted in response to the police officer who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri not being indicted. After hearing about the rioting that occurred after the verdict, James emphasized violence was not the answer.
The Ferguson grand jury's decision on Monday not to indict officer Darren Wilson resulted in rioting, looting and widespread fires. James quickly condemned the riots on Tuesday, stressing violence was not the right answer.
"That's not the answer," James said, via ESPN. "What does that do? What does that actually do? Just hurt more families, hurt more people, draw more attention to things that shouldn't even be going on instead of people going to the family's household and praying with them. And saying, 'Things are going to be great.' You know, 'Mike Brown is in a better place now,' and 'Trayvon Martin is in a better place now.' That's where it should be. I mean, burning down things and shooting up things and running cars into places and stealing and stuff like that, what does that do? It doesn't make you happy."
James continued, indicating the grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson highlighted a much bigger problem in society.
"I think that news itself, the issue is much bigger than that," James said. "It's not just one instance. It's not just Mike Brown or Trayvon Martin or anything that's going on in our society. I think it's much bigger than that. Like I said last night, violence is not the answer and retaliation is not the solution. My prayers and best wishes goes out to the families of anyone that loses a loved one, especially a kid today."
James and ex-Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade organized a photo with the entire Heat team wearing hoodies in March 2012 to show support for Martin, whose shooter - George Zimmerman - was eventually found not guilty.
