Warriors Stars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson Join Oakland's George Floyd Unity March
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Golden State Warrior stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson joined several of their teammates Wednesday in a peaceful march along Oakland's Lake Merritt, calling for change in the wake of the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Chanting "George Floyd" -- the Warriors stars were among the several hundred marchers taking part in Walking In Unity -- which was organized by teammate and Bay Area native Juan Toscano-Anderson, who attended Castro Valley High School.
"It don't matter the color of your skin, or where you are from, of how much money you got," Toscano-Anderson told the crowd. "We are all human beings. We are all here for the same purpose."
Curry marched with his wife, Ayesha. Thompson was also among the crowd as was Damian Lee.
.@KlayThompson joins @juanonjuan10 at his Walking in Unity event in Oakland. pic.twitter.com/jzzKluLzoX
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 3, 2020
Both Curry and head coach Steve Kerr have been vocal in their support of former Golden State Warriors star Stephen Jackson and his close friend Floyd and their families.
Floyd, 46, died Memorial Day after being pinned to the ground while handcuffed with an officer's knee on his neck. Video of the incident showed Floyd pleading that he could not breathe while the officer remained kneeling on his neck.
Derek Chauvin, the main officer involved in the case, has been charged with second-degree murder. The three other officers -- Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng -- have have been charged with aiding and abetting a murder. All four officers at the scene have also been fired.
Jackson, who was part of the 2007 "We Believe" Warriors team, grew up with Floyd in the same neighborhood in Houston and considered him like a brother.
"Floyd was my brother, man," Jackson said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. "We called each other 'Twin,' bruh. Everybody know me and Floyd called each other 'Twin.' My brother was only out there in Minnesota, he was changing his life, he went to Minnesota, he was driving trucks. I just sent him two, three boxes of clothes. My boy was doing what he was supposed to do, man, and y'all go kill my brother, man."
Kerr voiced his outrage on Twitter, posting, "This is murder. Disgusting. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with US????"
Curry joined in on Instragram "George has a family. George didn't deserve to die. George pleaded for help and was just straight up ignored, which speaks loud and clear that his black life didn't matter. George was murdered. George wasn't human to that cop that slowly and purposefully took his life away."