As he prepares his team to represent the United States of America, Team USA men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr has a heavy heart in the wake of an apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on Saturday.
“This is a time where we feel very proud to represent our country wearing USA on our chest, competing in the Olympics,” Kerr told reporters. “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.”
Kerr understands the devastating impact of gun violence all too well. His father Malcolm was assassinated in 1984 in Beirut, Lebanon while serving as the president of the American University of Beirut. Kerr has long been a proponent of gun control and used his platform as head coach of the Golden State Warriors to speak out against gun violence.
“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 said. “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.”
During a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump was allegedly shot by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Trump said on social media that he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear” before Secret Service agents whisked him off the stage. 50-year-old former firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed while shielding his family in the crowd.
[ESPN]
