Charles Barkley blasted for suggesting Breonna Taylor’s killing was justified

By A.R. Shaw
Sep 25, 2020
12:37 pm

Charles Barkley is facing backlash for comments he made about Breonna Taylor.

On Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, Barkley and his fellow commentators on “Inside of NBA,” Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, shared their thoughts about the case before the Los Angeles Lakers faced off against the Denver Nuggets.

Barkley suggested that Taylor’s death was not similar to the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery because police claimed that her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a gun at them first.

“It’s just bad the young lady lost her life, but we do have to take into account that her boyfriend did shoot at the cops and shot a cop,” Barkley said. “So, like I said, even though I’m really sorry she lost her life, I don’t think we can just put this in the same situation as George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.”

After Barkley’s statement, O’Neal responded: “I have to agree with Charles, this one is sort of lumped in. You have to get a warrant signed, and some states do allow no-knock warrants. And everyone was asking for murder charges. When you talk about murder, you have to show intent. A homicide occurred, and we’re sorry a homicide occurred. When you have a warrant signed by the judge, you are doing your job, and I would imagine that you would fire back.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron claimed that the actions of the three officers involved in the shooting — Myles Cosgrove, Brett Hankison and Jonathan Mattingly — were justified because Taylor’s boyfriend fired first.

“After hearing the evidence from our team of prosecutors, the grand jury voted to return an indictment against Detective Hankison for three counts of wanton endangerment for wantonly placing the three individuals in apartment 3 in danger of serious physical injury or death,” Cameron said. “Charge 1 endangerment in the first degree is a Class D felony, and if found guilty, the accused can serve up to five years for each count.”

According to The New York Times, the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, concluded that the fatal shot was fired by Cosgrove. However, a Kentucky lab examined the same evidence, and the results were inconclusive. In total, 32 shots were fired by the police officers with 16 fired by Cosgrove, 10 fired by Hankison and six fired by Mattingly.

Following Barkley’s statement, he was ridiculed on social media as many believed that he was uninformed about the case and could not present a factual argument.

They are not capable of intelligently discussing Breonna Taylor’s murder. They embarrassed themselves on @NBAonTNT. They should have kept their comments off camera. Charles Barkley sounded like an uninformed idiot as usual. smh.

— Femme Noire 💗💚 (@iamcynmarie) September 25, 2020

LeBron James is in a class of his own. He values the lives of Black women, unlike Charles Barkley who is part of the weakest link to offer any justification for Breonna Taylor’s death.

— Stephanie. (@qsteph) September 25, 2020

https://twitter.com/pen_and_a_lens/status/1309311464180776960?s=20

Charles Barkley’s comment on Breonna Taylor is disgusting and foul. This is why we say black women are the most disrespected. I’m so angered right now!!!!!!

— Bird☁️ (@_momcedes) September 25, 2020

Charles Barkley is ridiculous for what he just said @NBAonTNT These people were ASLEEP when their door was KICKED IN. They didn’t know who was kicking it in, they just knew there was an intruder. When Breonna’s boyfriend shot his LEGAL gun, he thought he was shooting at INTRUDERS

— Your Highness M 🏳️‍🌈 (@Aye_Itz_Queen) September 25, 2020