Getty Warriors player Stephen Curry (L) looks on as US basketball coach Steve Kerr speaks at the White House.
The deadly shooting on Saturday, July 13, at a political rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, was felt by Americans halfway across the world, including Golden State Warriors and Team USA Men’s Basketball head coach Steve Kerr.
Kerr has long been an outspoken advocate for gun control in the United States. That is, at least in part, due to the fact that the militant group Islamic Jihad assassinated his father, Malcolm Kerr, in Lebanon in 1984. Kerr’s father was serving as president of the American University of Beirut at the time.
Team USA is currently in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where it will take part in international competition leading up to the 2024 Summer Olympics that begin in Paris later this month.
Brian Windhorst, who is also in Abu Dhabi and covering the team for ESPN, asked Kerr for his thoughts on what appears to be an assassination attempt on former President Trump, who is currently running for re-election as the Republican nominee.
“It’s such a demoralizing day for our country, and it’s yet another example of not only our political division but also gun culture,” Kerr told Windhorst. “A 20-year-old with an AR-15 trying to shoot the former president. It’s hard to process everything, and it’s scary to think about where this goes because of the issues that already exist in the country. So this is a terrible day.”
Warriors, Team USA Star Stephen Curry Shared Thoughts on Fatal Shooting at Former President Donald Trump’s Rally
GettyStephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, who is also a player on Team USA, offered his thoughts to Windhorst on Sunday as well.
“It’s obviously a very sad time in general,” Curry said. “All the conversations around the election and the state of politics in our country, and then you have a situation like this, which just [evokes] a lot of emotions around things that we need to correct as a people.”
The two-time Most Valuable Player and four-time NBA champion also took the opportunity to advocate for gun control as well as positivity in an American political landscape that he feels is too devoid of it.
“Obviously, gun control first and foremost, because the fact that that’s even possible for somebody to have an attack like that,” Curry continued. “But just more so you want to [see] positivity and hope. It sounds cheesy, but it’s real. That’s when our country’s at its best, and it just adds another blemish to what’s going on. So sad is just the word.”
Warriors, Team USA Head Coach Steve Kerr Calls Violent Events at Ex-President Donald Trump’s Rally ‘Shameful’
GettyHead coach Steve Kerr of Team USA.
Kerr added that he was thankful “Trump wasn’t hit.” The shooter actually did hit the former president, as a bullet grazed his right ear and caused visible bleeding from the wound that rolled down his face.
Trump’s injury was not fatal, and his campaign described his condition as “fine” following the attack, per a report from the Associated Press (AP). However, three rally attendees were also injured in the attack, which the AP said left one victim dead and two others in critical condition. All three victims were men, according to the report.
The FBI on Sunday morning identified the 20-year-old shooter with the AR-15, who Kerr referenced in his comments, as Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks perpetrated the attack from the roof of a building located outside of the rally, the AP said.
Secret Service agents subdued the threat by returning fire and ultimately shooting Crooks, who died as a result of his wounds, according to the AP.
“This is a time where we feel very proud to represent our country wearing USA on our chest, competing in the Olympics,” Kerr continued during his interview with Windhorst. “We’ve talked to the players about how important it is to show the best version of us as human beings to represent our country in a respectful, dignified manner. It makes you want to do that even more so, because this is really shameful for us to sit here and think about what happened and what’s going on in our country.”
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