After police shootings this week of two black men—Philando Castille of St. Paul, Minn., and Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, La.—ignited protests and five Dallas officers were killed Thursday night in a sniper attack, former Duke basketball star Jabari Parker defended President Barack Obama on social media.
Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh blamed Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement for the deaths in Dallas, tweeting, "Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks." He then deleted the tweet, and clarified Friday that, "I wasn't calling for violence, against Obama or anyone. Obama's words and BLM's deeds have gotten cops killed."
A forward with the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, Parker replied to Walsh's tweet with two of his own.
@WalshFreedom You ain't landing a single finger on @BarackObama. No body is. Chicago and myself going to make sure of that.
— Jabari Parker (@JabariParker) July 8, 2016
Im not a man of violence. I'm a man of God. I have faith that peace will happen. We have to take the higher road and allow God's will.
— Jabari Parker (@JabariParker) July 8, 2016
Parker was a first-team All-American during his only season at Duke in 2013-14 before being selected by the Bucks with the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft.
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