The Boston Celtics walked off the court in response to the riots at the United States Capitol on Wednesday.
January 6, 2020 will go down as a blemish on United States history. In Washington D.C., supporters of Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol as Congress was set to certify the election results, giving President-elect Joe Biden the victory. However, supporters made it inside the Capitol building, forcing Vice President Mike Pence, Senators and Representatives to evacuate.
In response to the act of sedition on Wednesday, the Boston Celtics walked off the court of American Airlines Arena prior to the start of their game against the Miami Heat. The Celtics would return to the court later on and the expectation is the Celtics-Heat game will take place as scheduled.
The Celtics and Heat released a joint statement shortly after returning, saying that they chose to play on Wednesday a day after Kenosha police were not charged in relation to the shooting of Jacob Blake this past summer. Additionally, both teams noted that those who chose to storm the stairs of Capitol Hill were treated differently than the peaceful protestors for racial justice at Washington D.C. this past summer, who were greeted with physical force by military police.
Before tipoff, both the Celtics and Heat knelt during the national anthem in solidarity.
NBA had no plans to cancel games amid the storming of Capitol Hill
Instead of protesting the game, both the Celtics and Heat opted to play on Wednesday night to bring joy to basketball fans during this dark day in United States history. Additionally, they stress that they will continue to fight for racial and social justice across the nation.
Before the game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA had no plans to reschedule any of the 11 games slated for Wednesday night in response to the act of domestic terrorism at the nation’s capitol.
Back in November, the presidential election concluded and Biden was elected the 46th President of the United States. Even though Trump lost by more than 7 million ballots in the popular vote, he began spewing unsubstantiated claims and conspiracy theories that the election was stolen from him. Various election officials, the Supreme Court and even Trump’s appointed attorney general Bill Barr said there has been no evidence of voter fraud.
At a rally in Washington D.C. earlier on Wednesday, Trump urged his supporters to march to Capitol Hill to “cheer on” Congressmen and Congresswoman trying to do his bidding to try and overturn the election. That was when they decided to engage in an attack on our democracy in order to appease Trump.
The Celtics and Heat wanted to raise awareness for the double standard performed by certain political leaders, and did so in a pregame walkout.