7:00 PM PT — Raiders owner Mark Davis is taking full responsibility for the tweet … but said the team will NOT delete the message that many feel is extremely tone deaf.
Davis told The Athletic he got the idea for the “I Can Breathe” tweet after hearing George Floyd’s brother use the phrase earlier Tuesday.
While speaking to the media at a news conference in Minneapolis following the Chauvin guilty verdict, George’s sibling, Philonise Floyd said … “Today, we are able to breathe again.”
That’s why Davis claims the team used the phrase.
Davis also said he’s sorry IF the tweet hurt the Floyd family … “If I offended the family, then I’m deeply, deeply disappointed.”
Hours after the tweet was sent, it’s still on the Raiders Twitter page … where Davis says it will remain.
The Las Vegas Raiders tried to enter the chat after the Derek Chauvin verdict on Tuesday — but they’re getting torn apart on social media for what some are saying is an insensitive post.
After Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd on Tuesday, the Raiders’ social media account tweeted out, “I CAN BREATHE” with the date and the team logo.
The problem … people feel it’s very tone deaf because Floyd told officers, “I can’t breathe” more than 20 times while being forcefully detained by Chauvin, who at the time was a member of the Minneapolis Police Department.
On top of that … while the verdict is a step in the right direction, there’s clearly so much work to be done.
The reaction to the Raiders’ social media post has been overwhelmingly negative … with THOUSANDS of responses piling in on Twitter.
Here’s a sampling …
— “Wow this is a huge miss”
— “Delete this s**t.”
— “Donate money to the inner cities of Oakland & delete this post.”
— “Delete this wtf is this omg”
— “This is what it looks like when u try to join the ‘woke’ side of social media and fail miserably”
NBA guard Isaiah Thomas also voiced his displeasure … saying, “Y’all can’t be serious.”
NFL receiver Torrey Smith added … “Folks get paid to avoid stupid stuff like this smh delete this @Raiders”
Emmanuel Acho — “I keep double checking to see if the @Raiders verified account actually tweeted this.”
The tweet is still up as of 5 PM PT … but given the backlash, that could change
