Las Vegas Raiders Under Fire for “I Can Breathe” Tweet

Following the 3-charge conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin, many Americans let out a sigh of relief. The jury’s fast deliberation took under a day, and the official news was announced on 4/20/21. 

Many organizations who had expressed their prior sympathies took to social media for a formal response and issued written statements supporting the jury’s decision.  

The Las Vegas Raiders were no exception, but their official reaction to the verdict has since found them in controversial territory.

At 7:30 PM EST, the Las Vegas Raiders posted a graphic that read “I Can Breathe” on their Twitter page. This comes as a contrast to one of BLM’s strongest slogans, “I Can’t Breathe,” which originated back in 2014 following the death of Eric Garner. 

The implications of this tweet created anger. By inverting a key slogan to BLM’s message, many thought that the Las Vegas Raiders implied that the verdict had ended all racism in America. 

While everyone recognizes the verdict as a step towards eventual justice for those unfairly targeted by the police force, the Las Vegas Raiders, who played no part in Derek Chauvin’s trial, seemed to have implied that the issue no longer exists. 

The Tweet has received immense backlash from prominent figures, including LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers star who has recently become extremely vocal about social justice issues.

Mark Davis, the Las Vegas Raiders’ owner, has publicly announced that he was the one who authorized the post. 

“I don’t want anyone in the organization taking heat. I take full responsibility for that,” he said. 

The tweet remains posted on Twitter for the team’s audience of 1.7 million followers. 

While it may have been insensitive, Mark Davis doesn’t seem to have any malicious intent behind his words, and nothing indicates that he meant to trivialize the issue to any reprimandable extent. 

Even though nearly every reply to the tweet is negative feedback, the team seems to have no intention of taking it down. They would be indirectly conceding that it was created in poor taste, which would worsen the situation. 

Mark Davis has said that the tweet will be deleted if it offends George Floyd’s family and apologizes for how much it has been misinterpreted.