Las Vegas Raiders Owner Stands By Controversial "I Can Breathe" Tweet

After social media backlash, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis announces he was the one who tweeted the “I CAN BREATHE” graphic after the Derek Chauvin verdict was announced. He asked the public not to blame anyone else in the organization.

Source: Boston Globe / Getty

On Tuesday, April 20, we finally got the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial for the murder of George Floyd. The case had already carved its place in the history books way before the trial began, as the response to Floyd’s killing brought America together like never before. The response to that horrific video footage filled streets not only in the U.S. but across the world night after night with people protesting and demanding justice.

Almost a year later, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, which is one step towards justice.

In the aftermath of the verdict, many companies took to social media to address the news and offer up fake deep quotes in an effort to follow through on promises they made during the protests of last summer.

While there are a lot to choose from, perhaps the most tone-deaf tweet of them all came from the Las Vegas Raiders Twitter account.

The above tweet sparked instant outrage as “I CAN BREATHE” has been a slogan used by racists and even the NYPD using it to spite Black Lives Matter and liberals seeking change and justice.

As the timeline blew up in the Raiders mentions calling for the social media manager to be fired, the owner Mark Davis spoke up. Mark took credit and revealed he actually tweeted the image and wants to take the heat for it, not blaming anyone else in the organization. He also revealed that he got the idea after hearing George Floyd’s brother say following the verdict, “Today, we are able to breathe again.”

“I felt that was a powerful statement,” Davis told ESPN following the incident. “Today was a day where I can breathe, and we can all breathe again because justice was served. But we have a lot of work to do still on social justice and police brutality.”

To make matters even worse, he doubled down and let it be known the tweet would not be deleted. Sometimes, you just can’t fix peoples’ tone-deaf outlook–especially when they’re speaking up for clout and not from the heart.

What do you think? Were The Raiders in the wrong here?