A tweet that has since been deleted by NBA star LeBron James has gone viral and led to a United States (US) senator accusing the basketball player of ‘inciting violence’ against a police officer.

The deleted tweet includes a picture of the police officer who shot and killed 16-year-old African-American Ma’khia Bryant, with the caption “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY”.

James appears to have meant that, after the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, the officer who killed Bryant would next up to face the ire of the public and ‘justice’ in the court of law. However, many have viewed it as potentially inciting violence against the cop, even though the shooting might have been justifiable.

The fatal incident took place on Tuesday (April 20) outside a home in Ohio and body cam footage from the officer’s uniform shows Bryant in a physical altercation with two other girls and lunging at one of them with a knife just before she is shot by the cop.

PRESSURES OF BLACK LIVES MATTER

During the mere seconds it took for the entire incident to unfold, the officer could be heard numerous times appealing to a seemingly out of control Bryant to stop before shooting her to prevent the other individual from being killed.

However, with the pressures of the Black Lives Matter movement and several questionable police killings of black men and women taking a toll on the American psyche, James, an outspoken advocate for racial justice, lumped this case in with all others in his initial tweet before getting all the facts.

James, in attempting to explain his decision to delete the controversial tweet, said it wasn’t directed at one police officer but the state of law enforcement in the US in general.

“It’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism,” James said.

“I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY.”

However, not only did James’ tweets go viral, they sparked severe backlash.

For one, the largest police union in the country condemned the Los Angeles Lakers star’s message as “disgraceful and extremely reckless”.

The National Fraternal Order of Police tweeted directly to James, noting his wealth and influence and saying he “should educate himself and, frankly, has a responsibility to do so, on the facts before weighing in”.

The police union added: “The officer saved a young girl’s life. No amount of gaslighting will change that fact.”

The message was reiterated by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton who said: “LeBron James is inciting violence against an Ohio police officer. This is disgraceful and dangerous.”

While freedom of speech is a ‘thing’, having all the facts before making a statement is important.

Ex-major league baseball star Lenny Dykstra also took on the NBA, calling for action against James.

Said Dykstra: “Hey, @nba, have you disciplined #LeBronJames for making a real and ongoing threat to the life of the brave officer in Columbus who prevented a knife attack from being even worse?”

As for the officer in question, officials have said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will launch a full investigation into the incident.

As Jesus said, ‘he that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone’.

Until then, as Jamaicans would say, ‘kibba yuh mouth’.