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NY Times

Basketball Great Michael Jordan Says He Can No Longer Remain Silent About Violence by and Against Police Officers

Jul 26, 2016  •  Post A Comment

Michael Jordan spoke out about recent police-involved shootings by issuing a statement and making two large donations to charitable organizations.

“In a statement released to The Undefeated, an ESPN website dedicated to the intersection of race and sports, Mr. Jordan, the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, North Carolina’s NBA team, said he was ‘deeply troubled’ by recent violent episodes in places like Baton Rouge, La., Minnesota and Dallas,” The New York Times reports.

Jordan said in his statement: “As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers.”

Jordan also announced two donations of $1 million each, to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Institute for Community-Police Relations.

“The institute, founded in May by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, helps train police departments to form better relationships with their communities,” The Times notes. “And Mr. Jordan emphasized the civil rights law group’s effort to ‘build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement.’”

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