On April 20, a case related to police violence took place in the United States. Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old boy, died when a police officer shot him four times. It’s unclear what the cause of the incident is, LeBron James posted a shocking status line.

The shooting took place right in Ohio, the hometown of the 36-year-old superstar. Perhaps that’s why LeBron James was so upset as soon as he heard the news that a fellow black teenager had been shot. He immediately posted his outrage on Twitter

“You are next”, LeBron posted a status line with an hourglass emoji. Many fans assumed that these were LeBron’s threats directed at the police officer in the photo. However, others think that LeBron is just mentioning that this officer will be punished by the law like Derek Chauvin, the police officer who shot and killed George Floyd.

Nicholas Reardon is the name of the police officer who appeared in LeBron James’ Tweet. According to the investigation of the incident, this police officer quickly went to the designated scene after receiving an emergency call. Here, he discovered Ma’Khia Bryant threatening two other young men with a knife. “Put down your weapon”, Nicholas ordered Ma’Khia, but the teenager did not obey. Four dry shots rang out, and Ma’Khia Bryant collapsed.

After learning the exact developments in the case, LeBron James took down the Tweet. However, he received a lot of criticism for this hasty statement. Many people believe that a person of LeBron’s stature making such a false statement will increase hatred between white people and people of color.

A bar owner in Cincinnati, Ohio said he will never show the NBA on his bar’s TV until LeBron James is kicked out of the NBA. The shop owner said he only wanted justice to be served when LeBron James committed racist acts. However, his bar suffered a series of poor reviews because of the above move, mostly from LeBron fans.

Across social networks, especially Twitter, many debates have broken out. A series of boycotts of brands sponsoring LeBron James are taking place because he has “increased hatred between two skin colors”. Some others said they would rate the movie Space Jam 2 (with LeBron’s participation) 1 star in retaliation for what the 36-year-old star’s fans did to the bar in Ohio.

LeBron James has always been involved in political activities and called for justice for people of color. However, his Tweet threatening the police officer had a negative effect, and was a mistake that LeBron should not have made.