Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive spoke after his team’s game on Thursday night to address the shooting that led to protests that impacted the team’s game.
Speaking to the limited fans in attendance, Ranadive preached a message of unity, inclusion and making the world and community a better place.
This is no small thing from @SacramentoKings owner Vivek Randivé after the team's game was disrupted by those protesting local police killing an unarmed man in his own grandmother's backyard.
Listen to what he says, and compare that to what we've heard from owners in other sports pic.twitter.com/hzy203w1VR— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) March 23, 2018
A limited amount of fans attended the team’s 105-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks due to protests over the Stephon Clark shooting. Clark was fatally shot by Sacramento police Sunday night in his grandmother’s backyard. He was under suspicion for possibly breaking a car window, and police believed he was armed when they fired shots at him, though it turned out he was unarmed.
On Thursday, people protested by blocking traffic on the 5 freeway and then banded together outside of Golden 1 Center, which led the team to lockdown the facilities, preventing most fans from being able to attend the game. The Kings moved the game’s start time back by around 20 minutes and eventually issued a statement encouraging fans to return home and stay tuned for refund information.
