Raiders tweet tone deaf statement after Chauvin verdict in Floyd’s killing

The Raiders appeared to send a statement Tuesday in support of the verdict in former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial for killing George Floyd, but the message they sent missed the mark — and it wasn’t close.

“I CAN BREATHE,” the Raiders’ official Twitter account tweeted, with a datemark of 4-20-21.

The message was a twist on the dying words of both Floyd, who Chauvin knelt upon for more than eight minutes, and Eric Garner, a Black man who died in 2014 after being placed in a chokehold by New York City police. Both men were recorded on video saying “I can’t breathe” before their deaths.

Raiders owner Mark Davis said the statement was his idea and intended to quote Floyd’s brother, Philonise, who said Tuesday, “We are able to breathe again.”

“I may have done it in-artfully, but I don’t apologize for it unless I offended the family,” Davis told this news organization, “I thought it was a profound statement and it came from his brother.”

In just over an hour, the Raiders’ message was quote-tweeted more than 35,000 times — largely by those criticizing the statement.

As of 6:20 p.m. PT, nearly two hours after it was sent, the tweet was still pinned to the top of the Raiders’ profile.

Last June, Davis expressed shock at Chauvin’s actions in the wake of Floyd’s killing.

“To watch a man be murdered by a uniformed police officer kneeling on the man’s throat for 9 minutes while 3 uniformed police officers either assisted or stood by watching is disturbing in too many ways,” Davis said in a statement at the time.

The Bay Area’s remaining NFL team released a more polished statement Tuesday.

“While the verdict in Minnesota is a step towards justice, we still have a long way to go in the equitable treatment of communities of color,” the San Francisco 49ers wrote. “We will continue to use our platform to drive awareness, spark conversation and inspire action. We will also continue supporting organizations creating racial equality in policing, ending mass incarceration and promoting educational and economic advancement for the Black community. This work must and will go on.”

Reporter Jerry McDonald contributed to this story.