Warriors and COO President Rick Welts on Twitter apologized on Twitter to Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, three days after body cameras were released, showing Ujiri’s encounter with an Alameda County replacement at Oracle Arena.
Welts said he “heartbreakingly watched the video” of Deputy Alan Strickland confronting and shaking Ujiri twice while trying to run to court in the dwindling seconds of the Raptors’ championship-clinching victory over the Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA 2019 Finals.
To my personal and professional friend Masai Ujiri, I am passionate about watching the video of what the happiest professional moment of your life should have been. It’s hard to see and know everything that creeps up in the aftermath around you. (1/2)
– Rick Welts (@RickWelts) 21 August 2020
While we had no role in hiring or managing security at our old arena, it happened at a Warriors game and for that I apologize. You came upstairs, which does not surprise me as someone you know. Well … go make some noise in the bubble! (2/2)
– Rick Welts (@RickWelts) 21 August 2020
The video, released as part of Ujiri’s countersuit against Strickland, showed Ujiri shaking Strickland after he was first shoved. This contradicts Strickland’s claim in the initial lawsuit that Ujiri instituted an altercation, and further footage disputes the claim that Ujiri ’caused injury. [Strickland’s] head, body, health, strength, nervous system, and person, all of which have caused and continue to exist [Strickland] great mental, emotional, psychological, physical, and nervous pain and suffering. ”
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The Alameda County District Attorney did not choose to push prosecutors against Ujiri in October, and Strickland sued Ujiri in February. Ujiri, who is Black, submitted a countersuit on Tuesday. Sgt. Ray Kelly told Bay Area News Group on Wednesday that it “published a piece of video … does not tell the story of the entire investigation” and that the sheriff’s office “[stands] due to [their] original statements. “
Ujiri said in a statement Thursday that Strickland profiled himself racistly. He complained that his “success” was the only reason he “got justice [he] earn. “
“Because I the [president of an] “NBA team, I had access to resources that made it possible for me to claim and fight for my justice,” Ujiri said in the statement. sources that assured my justice.And that is why it is important for all of us to stay right demand Justice for George (Floyd). Justice for Breonna (Taylor). Justice for Elijah (McClain). “And justice for black people all over the world, who need our voice and our compassion to save their lives. Those are the bonds that bind us.”
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