Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has written an op-ed for Time about the recent murder of two police officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.
The former NBA star writes that the officers' murders were "in no way related" to the protests over the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Abdul-Jabbar notes that the suicidal killer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, was a "troubled man" and had shot his girlfriend earlier that day.
The protests are no more to blame for his actions than The Catcher in the Rye was for the murder of John Lennon or the movie Taxi Driver for the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan...
Those who are trying to connect the murders of the officers with the thousands of articulate and peaceful protestors across America are being deliberately misleading in a cynical and selfish effort to turn public sentiment against the protestors. [Time]
Abdul-Jabbar goes on to call the comparisons "phony and logically baffling." Read Abdul-Jabbar's full op-ed over at Time.