The LAPD cop, who sought to meet Lepron James to discuss the “reality” of the police, said that the NBA superstar has not responded to his open letter – and revealed that he was charged with deadly force nearly four times during his career Had to use.
“I was a LeBron James before I became a police officer,” Deion Joseph, who addressed the James player after his inflammatory tweet about an Ohio officer who shot 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, Told fox news On Tuesday night.
“I didn’t want to be a police officer at all. Young and African Americans were growing up in the late 24s and 90s, which was a very violent and turbulent time, I thought the police were basically our natural enemies, ”the 24-year-old veteran told host Sean Hannity.
“It’s almost like a rite of passage – if you’re African American, you have to hate the police,” he said.
On April 21, the Los Angeles Lakers player sparked controversy when he tweeted a photo of Columbus Police Officer Nicholas Reardon, along with the ominous-looking caption, “You’RE NEXT.”
He later deleted the tweet during a backlash, saying he took down the missile because it was “being used to generate more hatred.”
In a Sunday post on Facebook, Joseph blamed James for allegedly “aiming” Reardon’s back – but said he hoped to meet famous hoopsters so that the two would sit down and talk about the reality of police work So we can talk about it.
“I don’t lose any love for him if I do it or not,” the official said on Fox News. “I think the work he does for children and philanthropists is incredible. It would be disappointing but if it inspires other people and their committee members start talking again, it will be good with me. “
Joseph said: “If he doesn’t feel like it [apologizing]. He is not there to do it. I thought it would be nice if you knew that you were wrong on an issue that you could at least say, ‘Hey I got it wrong. Yes, I want accountability, but this is wrong. ”
He said that he wrote the letter because the officer who shot Majhiya “could have been me.”
“I’m thinking four times in my career, I had to use deadly force on almost anyone, and I couldn’t sleep for two days,” he told Hannity. “I was close to shooting a young man to save other people while on my way home from duty, and he would have been told about me without knowing who I am.”
Joseph said: “I pray that I can never kill another human being.”
He said that when he shut down his family business during the Rodney King riots, he decided to join the LAPD.
“I was struggling with my blackness. ‘Was I cheating my people?’ And of course the answer was, ‘No,’ “he said. “Once I joined the academy, all the stereotypes I had about the disappearance of the police came to an end.”
Joseph emphasized the importance of remembering that the vast majority are civilized people.
“We treat humans like humans and it’s not always going to be perfect or beautiful,” he said.
Leave a Reply