Vanessa Bryant Slams L.A. County Sheriff After He Calls Out LeBron James

Vanessa Bryant Slams L.A. County Sheriff After He Calls Out LeBron James

Update #2 (Sept. 16th): Vanessa Bryant has come to LeBron James’ defense after he was challenged by the L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. She reposted a couple of messages on her Instagram stories that called out Alex Villanueva for his message.

One of the messages references reports that L.A. County Sheriff’s department took photos of her late husband Kobe Bryant’s fatal helicopter crash scene.

“How can he talk about trusting the system? His sheriff’s dept. couldn’t be trusted to secure Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash scene, his deputies took and shared graphic photos of crash victims. Vanessa Bryant is suing them.”

The second message reads:

“He shouldn’t be challenging LeBron James to match a reward or “to step up to the plate.” He couldn’t even “step up to the plate” and hold his deputies accountable for photographing dead children.”

Original Story (Sept. 15th): The gunman who shot two L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officers is still at large, and Sheriff Alex Villanueva is challenging Los Angeles Lakers player, LeBron James to match the funds raised in an effort to find them.

Two L.A. County officers were shot in Compton on Saturday (Sept. 12th.)  Both went into surgery and are expected to recover.

So far $175,000 has been raised to locate the shooter, with two private pledges that total $75,000, and an additional $100,000 from the county.  Sheriff Alex Villanueva is calling on LeBron James to pitch in another $175k in a challenge he announced on Monday, on a local radio show (Sept. 14th).

On @KABCRadio, @LACoSheriff challenges LeBron James to match current reward amount of $175,000, in search for shooter of two @LASDHQ deputies.
Sheriff says, "the fact that they survived death is a miracle."https://t.co/lzYpNmeBju

— 790 KABC (@KABCRadio) September 14, 2020

“I want to make a challenge…this challenge is to LeBron James.  I want you to match that and double that reward because I know you care about law enforcement.”

He added that LeBron James has been vocal when calling for justice for other high-profile cases, like the death of Breonna Taylor. 

“You expressed a very interesting statement about your perspective on race relations and on officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community and I appreciate that, but likewise, we need to appreciate that respect for life goes across professions, races, creeds, and I’d like to see LeBron James step up to the plate and double that.”

LeBron James has not responded to the challenge as of yet.

The plea comes after LeBron James was vocal in boycotting a playoffs game after the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake. He demanded justice on social media as well.

What are your thoughts on LeBron James getting called out by the LA Sheriff to match the funds raised to find the gunman? Let us know in the comments!