The coach of the NBA of the Golden State Warriors, Steve Kerr, exploded this Tuesday against the Republicans for rejecting the control of firearms in the US after the shooting in which at least 18 minors and two teachers were killed in Texas .
“I’m not going to talk about basketball today (…). No basketball question matters, “Kerr began at his press conference before the fourth game of the West final that is played tonight in Dallas (Texas) between the Mavericks and the Warriors (0-3).
“Since we left training this morning, 14 children (the death toll later rose to 18) and two teachers have been killed 400 miles from here (644 kilometres). In the last ten days, we’ve had elderly black men killed in a Buffalo supermarket, Asian churchgoers killed in Southern California, and now we have children killed at school,” he explained.
“When are we going to do something?!” he yelled disconsolately on the verge of tears.
With a gesture of rage at all times, Kerr noted that he is “very tired” of appearing before the media to “offer condolences to devastated families” after a shooting in the US.
Kerr then lashed out at Senate Republicans for being against a bill to tighten background checks on gun purchases. This bill, known as HR8, was approved by the House of Representatives in 2021 but its process is still stuck in the Senate.
«There are 50 senators (the Republicans) who refuse to vote for HR8 (…). There’s a reason they won’t vote: to keep their power,” he said.
“I ask you, Mitch McConnell (Senate Republican leader), and all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence, the shootings in schools and supermarkets. I ask you: Will you put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children, elders and parishioners? Because that’s what it looks like,” he added.
Kerr urged that everyone today think of their own “child, grandchild, mother, father, sister or brother.”
“We are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington who refuse to even put (the bill) to a vote, despite what Americans want. They won’t vote for him because they want to keep their own power. It’s pathetic! I’ve had enough », he closed with a new cry before leaving the press conference.
