Steve Kerr, visibly angry and shocked, on Tuesday evening condemned senators, especially Republican leader Mitch McConnell, for failing to act on gun law, hours after a gunman killed 18 children and at least one adult in a primary school in the United States. city of Uvalde, west of Texas. .
“When are we going to do something?” Kerr, the Golden State Warriors head coach, called at a press conference before his team faced the Dallas Mavericks in the fourth game of the NBA Western Conference Finals. Teams were playing in Dallas, more than 300 miles from the site of the massacre.
“I ask you, Mitch McConnell, to ask all senators to refuse to do anything about violence and shootings in schools and shootings in supermarkets; I ask you to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elders and our faithful? ” He said. “Because that’s what it looks like.”
Kerr, who declined to comment on basketball during his remarks, also referred to a mass shooting 10 days ago at a grocery store in Buffalo, where a racist gunman targeted mostly black people, as well as an attack on Asian parishioners in a California church. investigated as a hate crime. Both occurred during the last two weeks.
He also mentioned HR8, a bill that would expand background checks for the purchase of weapons. The Democratic-controlled House passed it in 2019, but the measure should clarify the filibusterity threshold of 60 votes in the Senate divided equally. Republicans, many of whom are backed by the National Rifle Association, have successfully rejected several attempts to impose restrictions on access to weapons.
“We are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington who are even refusing to vote, despite what we, the American people, want,” Kerr said. “They won’t vote for him, because they want to hold on to their own power. It’s pathetic.” The coach hit the table to emphasize several times during his plea.
Kerr made his remarks shortly before President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday night. “We as a nation must ask ourselves when in God’s name we will face the arms lobby. When in God’s name do we do what we all know needs to be done?” said the president.
The official Twitter and YouTube accounts of the Golden State Warriors posted the video of Kerr’s emotional plea for real action on armed violence. Venture capitalist Joe Lacob is the majority owner of the team.
Kerr’s father, Malcolm Kerr, was assassinated by gunmen in Lebanon in 1984 while he was president of the American University of Beirut. The NBA coach and former player has often played a role in social issues and has been an advocate for gun control.
“We can’t fall asleep with that,” Kerr said Tuesday night.