Charles Barkley criticized for opinions on Breonna Taylor decision, defunding police

Before Game 4 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets’ Western Conference finals, Charles Barkley didn’t hold back on his opinions regarding the grand jury decision over the death of Breonna Taylor, as well as his take on movements to defund or abolish the police.

We know Barkley doesn’t ever hold back. Just last month he spoke about how “The bottom line is it is exhausting being Black, especially when you are a celebrity. You know, I love Tom Brady but nobody asks him about what is going on in white America. Nobody asks Luka Doncic what’s going on in America.”

On Thursday night, Barkley said on Inside the NBA that “we do have to take into account that her boyfriend did shoot at the cops and shot a cop.”

“So, like I said, even though I’m really sad she lost her life,” he continued, “I don’t think this is something we can put in the same situation as George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery.”

That still ignores some of the details. Per the Washington Post, which gathered the facts from the case that we know, if Taylor and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker didn’t hear police identify themselves and the door was knocked down, how was he to know they were officers? Also worth noting: there are attempts being made by Kentucky state representatives to end no-knock warrants entirely.

Barkley also called for police and prison reform over calls to defund or abolish the police.

This is a reminder that “defund the police” doesn’t mean completely dismantling police departments, but rather use the funding for other programs in communities. The argument against reform is that it’s been attempted, but police brutality and killings of Black people continue.

This is a sampling of some of the response: