Athletes react to recent police shootings, call for violence to stop

Police shootings have made headlines this week after two people were killed in two separate shootings by police earlier this week, before more gun violence erupted at a protest in Dallas claiming the lives of members of the police department there.  Athletes across the nation reacted to the shootings via social media.

The first shooting happened in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Tuesday, July 5. Alton Sterling, a 37-year old black man, was selling CDs outside a convenience store when a homeless man approached him and asked him for money. Sterling told the man to leave him alone and allegedly showed him his gun before the homeless man called 911, according to CNN. Police arrived to investigate the 911 call and after an encounter with two white police officers Sterling was shot and killed. Video of the shooting, which has been shared on social media and by many news outlets, shows officers on top of Sterling before he was shot at close range.

The second shooting happened in Minnesota on Wednesday. Philando Castile, a black man, was pulled over for a broken taillight and told the officer that he was armed and had a concealed carry permit, CNN noted. The white policeman allegedly told Castile not to reach for the gun and when Castile was reaching for his wallet the officer believed he was reaching for the gun and shot him. Video of the incident was streamed live on Facebook by Castile’s fiancé, Diamond Reynolds.

Then on Thursday night, Micah Xavier Johnson shot and killed five police officers at a Dallas protest over the previous shootings. Athletes reacted to the shootings on social media and called for the violence to stop.

First off let me start off by saying " All Praise Due To The Most High." Secondly, I'm all about rallying, protesting, fighting for OUR people. Look I'll even lead the charge, By Any Means Necessary. We have to be smart about what we are doing though. We need to steer our anger in the right direction. The system is Broken. Point blank period. It has been this way forever. Martin Luther King marched. Malcolm X rebelled. Muhammad Ali literally fought for US. Our anger should be towards the system. If the system doesn't change we will continue to turn on the TVs and see the same thing. We have to put the pressure on the people in charge in order to get this thing we call JUSTICE right. A march doesn't work. We tried that. I've tried that. A couple social media post/tweet doesn't work. We've all tried that. That didn't work. Shooting 11 cops and killing 5 WILL NOT work. While I don't have a solution, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't have a solution, we need to come together more than anything at this time. We need each other. These politicians have to step up and fight for change. I'm calling for all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge. Go to your local officials, leaders, congressman, assemblymen/assemblywoman and demand change. There's NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore. Those days are long gone. We have to step up and take charge. We can't worry about what endorsements we gonna lose or whose going to look at us crazy. I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change. We just have to be willing to. THE TIME IS NOW. IM all in. Take Charge. Take Action. DEMAND CHANGE. Peace7 #StayMe7o

A photo posted by @carmeloanthony on

Live from OAKLAND!! #AllWeWantIsPeace We gotta value our own lives, before anyone else will! #PEACE

A video posted by matt_barnes9 (@matt_barnes9) on

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