The head coach of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, Doc Rivers, on Tuesday got emotional while discussing racial injustice in the U.S. following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis.
After his team’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Rivers broached the subject of the Republican National Convention and became visibly upset.
“All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear,” Rivers said. “We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones that — we’re denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung. We’ve been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear.”
As tears welled up in his eyes, Rivers said he is constantly reminded of the fact that he is a Black man in America.
“It’s amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back,” Rivers said. “It’s really so sad. Like, I should just be a coach. I’m so often reminded of my color. It’s just really sad. We got to do better. But we got to demand better.”
Rivers also addressed the ongoing nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality that have taken place across the country since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, saying that “nothing happens” in response to demonstrations.
“The training has to change in the police force,” Rivers continued. “The unions have to be taken down in the police force. My dad was a cop. I believe in good cops. We’re not trying to defund the police and take all their money away. We’re trying to get them to protect us, just like they protect everybody else.”
Blake was shot by a Kenosha officer responding to a domestic dispute on Sunday, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Video captured by a witness showed Blake walking around an SUV on the side of a street as two officers trailed him with their firearms pointed in his direction. After Blake opened the driver’s side door and appears to try to enter the vehicle, one of the trailing officers grabs him by his shirt and fires his weapon seven times, the clip shows.
Blake’s three children were in the car at the time of the shooting, his attorney said.
Blake’s family said Tuesday that the man is paralyzed from the waist down. He remains hospitalized in serious condition, and his father said there are now “eight holes” in the lower half of his body.
The shooting has sparked massive protests in Kenosha, and the officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave.
President Trump has not yet commented publicly on the shooting or Blake’s condition. On Tuesday, however, he tweeted that Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) should call in the National Guard regarding the protests, something Evers already did on Monday.
Blake was included in the opening prayer at the Republican National Convention.
“Lord, we come before you to ask for your spirit of peace to come over hurting communities in Wisconsin tonight. We pray for healing and comfort to Jacob Blake and his family,” said Norma Urrabazo, pastor of the International Church of Las Vegas.
She also included police officers in her prayer.
“We pray for your protection over those who put their lives in harm’s way to bring safety and security to our streets,” the faith leader said.