The Las Vegas Raiders were sacked on Twitter after turning George Floyd’s final words into a tweet many felt missed the mark in celebrating the guilty verdict handed down Tuesday to former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
“I can breathe 4-20-21,” the NFL team tweeted in reference to Floyd, who said, “I can’t breathe” 20 times as he was pinned to the ground by Chauvin for over 9 minutes during the fatal arrest last May.
“Smh [Shaking my head],” two-time Super Bowl champion wide receiver Torrey Smith tweeted in response to the Raiders’ tweet. “Delete this.”
The Raiders published the tweet shortly after Chauvin, who is 45 and white, was convicted on murder and manslaughter charges in the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man.
“I refuse to believe a diverse social media team ok’d that Raiders tweet,” Smith added in a follow-up tweet.
Instead of scrubbing the tweet following waves of criticism, the Raiders made it more visible by pinning it to the top of the account.
Davis defended the tweet, saying it was his idea and that the wording came from Floyd’s brother Philonise, who after the verdict said, “Today, we are able to breathe again,” according to Tashan Reed, the Raiders beat writer for The Athletic.
“If I offended the family, then I’m deeply, deeply disappointed,” Davis said, according to The Athletic’s report.
Davis said the tweet would not be removed.
Many professional sports teams and leagues issued statements in support of Tuesday’s verdict, as they have been called on by players to take a more active role in social justice causes.
The NFL has faced scrutiny for its handling of former quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling in protest of social injustice and police brutality in 2016.
“That this tweet was tweeted is hard to believe,” said sports media personality Darren Rovell. “That it has remained up for more than an hour is harder to believe.”
Quipped former NFL linebacker and Giant Emmanuel Acho, “I keep double checking to see if the @Raiders verified account actually tweeted this.”
The Raiders’ tweet as of Tuesday night had over 60,000 comments, many of which were critical of the post.