Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr passionately called for gun control after the Texas school shooting that left 18 children dead Wednesday (AEST).
Kerr declined to discuss his team’s NBA playoff clash with the Dallas Mavericks at a pre-match press conference held hours after a teenage gunman opened fire on a Texas city school. ‘Uvalde.
An emotional Kerr, one of the most open and articulate voices on social issues in American sport, slapped his hand on a table while accusing U.S. lawmakers of refusing to pass tougher gun laws. the American people as hostages. “
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Wednesday, May 25
Wednesday, May 25
“Any basketball question doesn’t matter,” Kerr told reporters.
“Since we left filming, 14 children (who spoke before the updated numbers) have been killed 400 miles from here. And a teacher. And in the last 10 days, we’ve had big black people killed in a Buffalo supermarket. We have murdered Asian religious people in Southern California, and now we have murdered children at school.
“When are we going to do something?” he shouted at Kerr, punching the table. “I’m tired, I’m very tired of going up here and offering my condolences to the devastated families there.
Law enforcement is working on the scene after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Source: AFP
“I’m sorry, I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough. Right now there are 50 senators who refused to vote HR8., Which is a background check rule that the House passed a couple of years ago, two years ago that it is sitting.
“And there is a reason they will not vote: to keep power.
“Then I ask you, Mitch McConnell, I ask all senators, that you refuse to do anything about violence and shootings in schools and shootings in supermarkets, put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elders and our faithful? Because that is what it seems.
“It simply came to our notice then. So I’m fed up. I’ve had enough. We will play this game tonight. But I want every person here, every person who hears this, to think of their own child or grandson, or mother, or father, or sister or brother. How would you feel if this happened to you today?
“We can’t fall asleep with that. We can’t just sit here and just read it and say, ‘Well, let’s have a moment of silence.’ to Play a Basketball Game |
“And 50 senators in Washington will take us hostage. You realize that 90 percent of Americans, regardless of political party, want universal background checks. 90 percent of us.
“We are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington, who are even refusing to vote for us despite what we want the American people to do.
“They will not vote for him because they want to maintain their own power. It’s pathetic. I’ve had enough.”
Kerr, a longtime advocate of social justice and gun reform, left the press conference after delivering the powerful message.
Warriors head coach Malcolm H. Kerr’s father, a former university professor and president of the American University of Beirut, was shot dead in Lebanon in 1984.