Vanessa Bryant Slams LA County Sheriff Over LeBron James Challenge
In a series of posts on her Instagram story, Vanessa Bryant expressed her negative feelings toward L.A. County’s Sheriff, Alex Villanueva, who challenged LeBron James to double the reward for information leading to an arrest of a suspect who shot two deputies, according to CBS Los Angeles.
In an interview with KABC Radio, Villanueva urged the Lakers superstar to double the $175,000 reward being offered in exchange for information regarding the attack, which occurred in Compton, California.
“The challenge is to LeBron James. I know you care about law enforcement. You expressed a very interesting statement about your perspective on race relations and on officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community,” the sheriff said in the interview, as reported by Clutch Points.
James has not made any response to Villanueva’s challenge, but has been outspoken about his opinions regarding social justice, police misconduct, and racial inequality in the U.S.
“I know people get tired of hearing me say it, but we are scared as Black people in America. Black men, Black women, Black kids, we are terrified,” James said after a recent Lakers win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Bryant expressed her opinions on Instagram, casting doubt on the likelihood of the sheriff following through with the challenge. Her posts included multiple screenshots of tweets, and she said that the sheriff shouldn’t be asking for help from professional athletes after he was unable to keep the helicopter crash Kobe Bryant was involved in private.
“Not all deputies are bad apples. Prayers for the 2 deputies that were shot,” she posted to end her Instagram story alongside a screenshot of a quote from the sheriffs department explaining the recent shooting of the officers in Compton.
According to Yahoo, Vanessa is suing the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department because multiple photos were leaked by first responders after her husband, Kobe, and eight others — including the couple’s daughter, Gianna — were killed in the fatal crash.
The claim, which was filed in May, is seeking damages for emotional distress and mental anguish after members of the police department took photos from the crash site on their phones and shared them in personal settings.
Villanueva confirmed with reporters shortly after rumors surfaced about photos being taken that it was in fact true. He stated that the officers were ordered to immediately delete all pictures they had taken at the scene of the accident.
