Akron’s LeBron James, reigning NBA finals MVP and three-time champion, who has spoken out about societal issues in the past, took to social media in the wake of the Dallas shootings to urge people to #StoptheViolence.
“We are all hurting tonight. More Violence is not the answer. #StoptheViolence,” James wrote in a tweet early Friday, after five police officers were shot and killed and seven others were wounded while working during a peaceful protest over fatal police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, James acknowledged Philando Castile and Alton Sterling — the two men killed in Minnesota and Louisiana — with hashtags while tweeting “Sickens me and I shed multiple tears about it all. #ItNeedsToStop #BlackLivesMatter.”
In the past, James also weighed in on the shooting deaths of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. While with the Miami Heat in 2012, he and then-teammate Dwayne Wade organized a photo with the entire team wearing hooded sweatshirts like the one Trayvon Martin was wearing when he was shot by George Zimmerman.