Raiders owner Mark Davis 'meant no disrespect' with 'I can breathe' tweet
The Las Vegas Raiders posted a widely criticized tweet on Tuesday after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd. They have no intention of deleting it.
Raiders owner Mark Davis told ESPN's Paul Gutierrez that the post was his idea and he "meant no disrespect" to Floyd's family. Davis said he got the idea from Floyd's brother, Philonise, who said after the verdict, "Today, we are able to breathe again."
"I felt that was a powerful statement," Davis said. "Today was a day where I can breathe, and we can all breathe again because justice was served. But we have a lot of work to do still on social justice and police brutality."
Despite Davis' intentions, many athletes criticized the tweet, including Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who couldn't believe the post was real. Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal had a similar take.
The tweet remained pinned to the top of the Raiders' Twitter page for hours before being unpinned.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after kneeling on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds last May.
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