Charles Barkley reacted to the Breonna Taylor indictment decision during a broadcast before an NBA playoff game on Thursday – and also dismissed calls to defund the police.
Barkley said on the “NBA on TNT” broadcast that Taylor’s death cannot be put in the same category as those of George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery. Floyd was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis and Arbery was fatally shot while jogging in Georgia.
“It’s bad this young lady lost her life,” Barkley said of Taylor. “But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend did shoot at the cops and shot a cop. So, like I say, even though I am really sorry she lost her life, I don’t think we can just say we can put this in the same situation as George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. I just don’t believe that.”
The former NBA All-Star went on to say that defunding the police was a bad idea.
“You know, I hear these fools on TV talking about ‘defund the police’ and things like that. We need police reform and prison reform and things like that. Because you know, who ain’t gonna defund the cops? White neighborhoods and rich neighborhoods. So that notion they keep saying that … I’m like, wait a minute. Who are Black people supposed to call Ghostbusters? when we have crime in our neighborhoods? We need police reform. Like I say, White people especially rich White people they’re always gonna have cops, so we need to stop that 'defund' or 'abolish the cops' crap,” he said.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/charles-barkley-reacts-to-breonna-taylor-case-dismisses-defund-the-police-as-crap