The Las Vegas Raiders have no plans to delete an insane tweet sent after Derek Chauvin’s conviction.
Following Chauvin being convicted on two murder charges and a manslaughter charge for the death of George Floyd, the Raiders thought it was a great idea to tweet “I Can Breathe.” (RELATED: Derek Chauvin Found Guilty Of Murder In Death Of George Floyd)
BREAKING: The jury finds former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts in the murder of George Floyd: 2nd degree intentional murder, 3rd degree murder, and 2nd degree manslaughter pic.twitter.com/FW5XDAZwob
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 20, 2021
As of right now, the tweet has been quote tweeted nearly 80,000 times, and the reactions are just as brutal as you’d expect.
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) April 20, 2021
In case you thought the tweet was coming down, it’s not. According to Tashan Reed, owner Mark Davis told the media that the tweet isn’t coming down, but that it might get unpinned.
#Raiders owner Mark Davis said the “I Can Breathe” wording came from George Floyd’s brother Philonise, who said “Today, we are able to breathe again.”
Davis added: “If I offended the family, then I’m deeply, deeply disappointed.”
He also said the post won’t be deleted.
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) April 21, 2021
Davis said he wasn’t aware that NYPD supporters wore “I Can Breathe” shirts following the 2014 killing of Eric Garner. After I brought that up to him he said, “I learned something… I have to do a little bit more research into that just so I can speak coherently on that aspect.”
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) April 21, 2021
Davis: “I will not delete it. I could un-pin it and let it run its course. It’s already out there, Tashan… I rarely, rarely post stuff, but I’m not into erasing something. It’s not an apology. I’m not embarrassed by what I said, but I did learn something now.”
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) April 21, 2021
Absolutely incredible response from Davis. You honestly almost have to respect the fact that the Raiders are getting torched and he won’t delete the tweet.
At this point, he’s dug in and he’s not going anywhere. I really do hate to say it, but you do have to respect it to a degree.
Fixed it for you pic.twitter.com/OL2qdCxmb1
— ???????????????????????? ❄️ (@TraeTooIcy) April 21, 2021
Not sending the tweet was the best option on the table. Immediately deleting it was the second best option. Davis went his own way with choosing to let it run its course.
I keep double checking to see if the @Raiders verified account actually tweeted this. https://t.co/xeXVwKSAER
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) April 20, 2021
What a wild past 12 hours for the Raiders. Sometimes, it’s okay to just put the phone down and walk away. Not every thought in your head needs to be said, and Mark Davis could learn that lesson.