Former NBA player Kwame Brown accused critics on Monday of politicizing the Kyle Rittenhouse trial by using the race card, saying “none of the victims were people of color.”
Brown, 39, has been vocal on issues about sports and politics for the past few months and gave his two cents on whether the 18-year-old deserved jail time or acted in self-defense. In the video, Brown openly defended Rittenhouse by stating that he used self-defense during the Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer.
“That — to me, in my opinion — looked like self-defense. The courts found it as self-defense,” he said Monday. “The only bad thing is that he had to sit in jail for so long because they made something political that shouldn’t have been political. If you’re going to give the boy the gun charge, give him the damn gun charge, or let the boy out.”
While he believed the 18-year-old was defending himself, Brown also stated that Rittenhouse should have been charged with a misdemeanor and sentenced to probation.
“He could have been home eating Fruit Loops or whatever the hell he eats,” said Brown.
Brown’s comments were directed towards critics who said the case would have turned out differently had Rittenhouse been a black teen with multiple charges against him.
Imagine what would be the outcome if Kyle Rittenhouse was Black.
— Steven Beschloss (@StevenBeschloss) November 19, 2021
The justice system did what it was designed to do — protect people like Kyle Rittenhouse.
If we're ever going to tackle racial injustice in America, we have to admit our justice system isn't working for Black, brown, and Indigenous people. But we also have to transform it.
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) November 20, 2021
Jacob Blake believes white privilege played a major part in Kyle Rittenhouse's trial.https://t.co/yH061enVd5
— BET News (@BETNews) November 22, 2021
“Instead of seeing the teenager’s trial objectively, critics just want to racialize it,” Brown said. “None of the victims were people of color.”
“Instead of that, we want to tie it into something black,” he continued. “We want to tie it into something bigger so we can have people come out and march and get checks off a little teenager’s back, and that, to me, is corny.”
Brown added that people want to highlight race by using victimhood to show how bad their lives are in this country.
“A bunch of people are getting paid to push this racist s***. That’s all it is,” he continued.
The former basketball player also called out prominent black figures like Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, and Roland Martin for promoting racial narratives.
“So, how in the f*** is it so bad?” Brown asked. “Tell me how to get it like you got it. Tell me how to get some of them black Escalade securities that you son-of-a-b*****s pulling up in while I’m pulling up with my brother.”
On Friday, the teen was found not guilty on all charges regarding two rioters’ deaths and wounding a third surrounding Jacob Blake’s police shooting, according to the Washington Examiner.
The 6-foot-11-inch Brown retired from the NBA in 2014 after spending 13 years in the league.
Watch the full video regarding Brown’s comments below.
