Athletes have been weighing in on their feelings about the actions of immigration officials in Minnesota, and NBA players in particular have been lashing out on social media against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the wake of the officer-involved shooting of anti-ICE agitator Alex Pretti.
NBA players, including Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Haliburton, and Karl-Anthony Towns, along with the NBA Players Association, have all spoken out against ICE and President Trump.
“I don’t know the whole situation of the people that got murdered, but I do know this is BS,” Donovan Mitchell said to reporters on Monday. “It’s BS. That’s just been my standpoint on it.”
“I pray for the families that are affected by it, I pray for everybody that is affected by it, and I pray we figure this out because it’s getting out of hand. It’s something that we need to just figure out. And hopefully we do soon because it’s just become the norm. It’s nuts. It’s insane. That can’t be who we are as a country, as a people.”
Haliburton also claimed that Alex Pretti was “murdered.”
New York Knicks player Karl-Anthony Towns took to his X account to call for “accountability.”
Celtics player and president of the NBA Players Association (PA) issued a statement calling for the protection of freedom of speech.
“Following the news of yet another fatal shooting in Minneapolis, a city that has been on the forefront of the fight against injustices, NBA players can no longer remain silent. Now more than ever, we must defend the right to freedom of speech and stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota protesting and risking their lives to demand justice,” the statement reads in part.
Others have spoken out, as well.
NBA analyst Charles Barkley, for one, called for “accountability” in the death of the anti-ICE activist in Minnesota.
“It’s just sad,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA on Saturday. “It’s scary. It’s sad…. and I don’t know how…. it’s going to end bad. It’s already ended badly twice, and somebody’s gotta step up and be adults because, man, two people have died for no reason, and it’s just sad.”
WNBA star Breanna Stewart also used her platform to attack ICE, holding a small sign that read “Abolish ICE” ahead of the BC Mist game on Sunday.
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