Getty Steve Kerr.
Steve Kerr has never shied away from speaking his mind, especially when it comes to socially and politically divisive issues in the United States of America.
The head coach of the Golden State Warriors continued to live up to that reputation Friday night. During a press conference before the Dubs’ November 19 matchup with the Pistons in Detroit, media members asked Kerr for his response to the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse case. Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges after killing two men and injuring a third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020.
NBC Sports Bay Area & CA posted video of Kerr’s comments on Twitter Friday evening.
“This is America. We’re treading down a dangerous path.”
Steve Kerr strongly condemns the implications of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict
Read more from @montepooleNBCS: t.co/zAWc1SOPsC
“I think the thing that I’m most concerned about is just gun laws in this country. The fact that we are seemingly okay with a teenager’s right to take an AR-15 to an area where there’s civil unrest, that’s really scary and concerning,” Kerr said in the video. “But this is where we are with gun laws. This is why we have to have safer gun laws in place — to protect ourselves, to protect each other.”
Rittenhouse Found Not Guilty of 5 Felonies, Including Murder
GettyKyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges related to the August 2020 shooting deaths of two men and the wounding of another.
The background of the Rittenhouse case, which has garnered national attention, is what Kerr spoke to first.
In August 2020, a white officer with the Kenosha Police Department, Rustin Sheskey, shot Jacob Blake, a Black resident of the city, seven times in the back after multiple officers effected a stop of Blake’s vehicle.
Just a few months before, Black Lives Matter protests swept the country following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin.
Kenosha erupted in protest, becoming one American city in a series to play host to demonstrators angry over what they described as systematic police targeting of minorities, particularly Black men.
Rittenhouse, a then 17-year-old resident of Illinois, shot three men during protests, killing two of them. NPR reported that Rittenhouse’s legal team said he “was only at the demonstrations to provide medical assistance while he carried a rifle for self-defense.” The gun “was purchased, stored and used in Wisconsin,” according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office, which determined Rittenhouse committed no crimes in Illinois related to the weapon.
The victims who died in the shooting were Joseph Rosenbaum, 36 years old, of Kenosha, and Anthony Huber, 26 years old, of Silver Lake, Wisconsin. The third victim, Gaige Grosskreutz, 27 years old, of West Allis, was wounded but survived.
Rittenhouse claimed self defense at the trial, which ended November 19 with not guilty verdicts across the board on five felonies, including intentional homicide.
Kerr Speaks Out Against Not Guilty Verdict
GettyHead coach Steve Kerr, of the Golden State Warriors, speaks to the media following Game Three of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors at ORACLE Arena on June 5, 2019, in Oakland, California.
Kerr — who has been known to speak publicly about social and criminal issues, particularly those with racial overtones — condemned the verdict in the Rittenhouse case, though he said he was unsurprised by it.
The Warriors’ head coach went on to issue a warning about what he sees as the path the country is headed down, both with Friday’s verdict and with the prevailing gun laws in the United States.
“It wasn’t a shocking verdict, but one that poses great risk going forward if we continue to go down this path of open carry and … states determining that people can just carry, even underaged people, weapons of war,” Kerr said. “This is America, and we’re treading down a dangerous path.”