Professional sports players boycott games following Jacob Blake shooting
HOUSTON - Thursday night baseball on FOX is being postponed. The Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers are the latest sports teams to join a wide-net of boycotts, calling for an end to police brutality and racial injustice.
The boycotts come after Wisconsin police shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake seven times as they attempted to arrest him.
Prosecutors say Kenosha police were trying to arrest Blake during a domestic disturbance call Sunday, when officer Rusten Sheskey, a 7-year-veteran of the department, shot Blake seven times in the back at close range.
Blake had gotten inside his SUV with his three young children in the back. Blake reportedly admitted to police he had a knife inside his car.
His family says the shooting will likely paralyze Blake.
After a viral video captured the violent confrontation, protests broke out across Wisconsin and created a domino effect of sports boycotts.
During a protest on Tuesday, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly shot three people, killing two of them. Rittenhouse has since been arrested and faced multiple homicide charges.
On Wednesday, multiple professional athletes began refusing to play, staging walk-outs during games and practices to show support for Jacob Blake and his family.
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First, the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks did not come out to the floor during Game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic. Then, several Major League Baseball teams, Major League Soccer, National Hockey League, and the WNBA also postponed multiple games. Several NFL teams canceled their practices as well.
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Former Rockets player turned Harris County Justice of the Peace, Joe Stephens, says he hopes the boycotts from all the big sports leagues will have a powerful enough impact to effect change, once and for all.
"I've had friends die at the hands of police. There’s a systemic problem that needs to change. I’ve been put on the hood of a hot car as a teenager. I’ve had guns pulled on me by police and the reason that you see sports like the NBA feeling so emotional about this is because we all have shared experiences," Stephens said.
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"A piece of me dies every time I see someone that looks like me die and it makes me fearful. Can you imagine the fear of knowing that when you leave the house, you could die?" Stephens continued.
The NBA playoffs are expected to resume this weekend.