LeBron James Quote About Ma’Khia Bryant Came from Satire Site
The Claim
Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James said, “we’re at the point where a girl can’t even stab her friends anymore,” in response to the death of Ma’Khia Bryant.
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Emerging story
On April 20, 2021, police arrived at a foster home in Columbus, Ohio, where Bryant and another young woman were engaged in a fight. Police officer Nicholas Reardon fatally shot Bryant.
In the body cam footage of the incident, it appears as though Bryant is lunging at the other young woman with a knife.
Following the incident, social media users claimed that LeBron James said, “we’re at the point where a girl can’t even stab her friends anymore.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that the claim stems from The Glorious American, a satire website. Their About Us states: “The Glorious American is a satire publication.” The thumbnail shared by many social media users says “Satire For The Right. And The Wrong.”
The claim likely took off because James tweeted a post about the shooting that has since been deleted. The deleted post had a picture of Reardon with a caption reading, “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY.”
After experiencing backlash about the tweet, James deleted it and tweeted what were seen by many as less vitriolic posts.
Since the claim about James’ quote comes from a satire website, we rate this claim as satire.
