LeBron James Asks Cleveland Protesters to Rally Behind Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James on Saturday addressed a string of peaceful protests against the acquittal of a white cop in the shooting deaths of two unarmed black people.

“For the city of Cleveland, let’s use our excitement or whatever passion that we have for our sport tomorrow for the game tomorrow night, bring [the passion] to the game [Sunday] night,” James said, according to Sports Illustrated. “And as our team, we’ll try to do our best to give it back to them.”

James declined to comment on the specifics of the case, which earlier on Saturday ended in the acquittal officer Michael Brelo of criminal charges for the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in 2012.

“Violence is not the answer, and it’s all about trying to find a solution for good or for bad,” James said. “For me, in any case, anything that goes on in our world or in our America, the only people that we should be worried about [are] the families that’s lost loved ones. You can’t get them back. You can never get them back. We should worry about the families and how they’re doing and things of that nature.”

[Sports Illustrated]