O.J. Simpson has gone from jailbird to law-and-order crusader.
The famous ex-con took a pro-cop stance Thursday when he backed an Ohio officer who fatally shot a knife-wielding teen and ripped into NBA star LeBron James for a tweet that named and shamed the lawman.
“The police guy had no choice, he responded,” said the Juice, who in 1995 infamously beat criminal charges that he himself used a blade to hack his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her pal Ronald Goldman to death.
“We wished he could have pulled a Taser but in that incident, if he didn’t do what he did, another young American would have her life taken.”
James drew the attention of the 73-year-old convicted felon by putting out a controversial tweet about the death of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant — who was revealed to be wielding her knife only after the basketball star posted his comment.
“YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY,” James tweeted Tuesday, along with an image of Columbus Police Officer Nicholas Reardon, who fired the fatal shot.
But when new details emerged, James deleted the tweet.
Simpson told James he should “pick his battles” and be more “patient” when criticizing cops, because sometimes incidents that may seem outrageous could turn out to be justified.
“You can’t fight every battle. You know, you got to pick your battles. It’s a war that must be fought but sometimes you need to take your time and be a little more patient before you comment on some of these bad incidents that are happening with police departments,” Simpson said in a video he posted on Twitter Thursday. “LeBron should have waited.”
Simpson — who did nine years in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping in Nevada — also criticized the media for putting out a false narrative before video of Bryant waving a knife emerged.
“I’m a little upset with most of the media who showed us edited versions of what took place with the girl with the knife. They made it sound like it was another police officer overreacting and killing a young black American,” Simpson said.
But he encouraged James to continue speaking out about injustices.
“LeBron, keep fighting the fight,” he said. “[I] admire the work he has done and how he has helped his community … how he has been fighting all these social issues, especially that of systemic racism and the legal system and the police departments around our country.”
Simpson added, “I’m against defunding the police. I think you just have to redirect some of those funds.”
After James deleted his tweet, he explained, “I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because it’s being used to create more hate.”
“This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY,” he said.