In a video obtained by TMZ, former Cleveland Cavalier and current NBA free agent J.R. Smith can be seen repeatedly kicking someone he claims smashed his car window during Sunday’s protest in Los Angeles, punching him once when the man gets to his feet and runs away. The basketball star’s friends can be seen trying to stop a bystander from filming, then walking Smith away from the scene. The onetime New York Knick later confirmed he did assault the man, saying he chased the alleged vandal down after seeing him shatter his truck window.
“I just want you all to know right now, before you see this shit somewhere else, one of these little motherfucking white boys didn’t know where he was going and broke my fucking window in my truck,” Smith said in a video he made about the incident. “Broke my shit. This is a residential area. There wasn’t any stores over here.”
Organized to protest George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police last week, and more broadly to combat police brutality against black communities, this weekend’s nation-wide protests have seen incidents of looting and vandalism. Says Smith, “So if the footage comes out and you all see it, I chased him down and whooped his ass. He broke my window. This ain’t no hate crime. I ain’t got no problem with nobody that ain’t got no problem with me. It’s a problem with the motherfucking system. That’s it.”
Sources
TMZRelated
J.R. Smith Beats Up Man Who Allegedly Smashed His Car WindowncG1vNJzZmivp6x7t8HLrayrnV6YvK57kWlpaWdga3yredFmqqahpJ16p7XGoausZZ2Wu27Dx6hkmqScmrSmsMuyZJuqn6CybsPIp5uor12WwW680airnqukY7W1ucs%3D