The Los Angeles County Sheriff has been criticized for his remarks toward LeBron James. Last weekend, two L.A. sheriff deputies were shot at point-blank range by an unknown suspect. They were sitting in their patrol vehicle in Compton when a man approached them and opened fire in what authorities have said was an unprovoked attack. There has been a $175K reward offered to anyone who has information leading up to an arrest of the person involved, and yesterday (September 14), L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva decided to publicly call out LeBron James, telling him he should match or even double the reward since he's had so much to say about police-involved shootings.
“I want to make a challenge…to LeBron James,” said Villanueva said on Monday (September 14) during an interview. “I want you to match that and double that reward because I know you care about law enforcement... You expressed a very interesting statement on race relations and officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community and I appreciate that, but likewise, we need to appreciate that respect for life goes across professions, races, creeds, and I’d like to see LeBron James step up to the plate and double that.”
Vanessa Bryant has added her voice to the conversation because she currently has a lawsuit against the L.A. Sheriff's Department. It's reported that multiple deputies took photos of the crash victims at the site where Kobe Bryant, 13-year-old Gianna Bryant, and seven others lost their lives in helicopter accident. Those deputies reportedly shared the photos and now, Vanessa wants them to be held accountable.
On her Instagram Story, Vanessa Bryant shared screenshots of tweets by a Twitter user, including one that reads, "How can [Villanueva] talk about trusting the system? His sheriff’s dept. couldn’t be trusted to secure Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash scene, his deputies took and shared graphic photos of crash victims. Vanessa Bryant is suing them." Another tweet stated, "He shouldn’t be challenging LeBron James to match a reward or 'to step up to the plate.' He couldn’t even 'step up to the plate' and hold his deputies accountable for photographing dead children."
Vanessa also wrote, “Not all deputies are bad apples. Prayers for the 2 deputies that were shot.” Check it all out below.