Athletes from the NBA and NFL, like Ja Morant, Trae Young, Darius Leonard and Melvin Gordon, didn't hold back their thoughts on Kyle Rittenhouse's verdict over the deadly Kenosha shootings in 2020.

As reported on Friday, Rittenhouse was found not guilty of the first-degree intentional homicide and four felony charges thrown at him. The jurors deliberated and eventually agreed that Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense in the said Kenosha shooting that killed two people and severely injured another person. To recall, the tragic incident happened during the height of social unrest in the country amid racial injustices.

Following the announcement of the verdict, several NBA and NFL stars took to Twitter to share their reactions. Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns earlier shared his disappointment on how ā€œthe system is brokenā€ over the not guilty verdict on Rittenhouse. Obviously, athletes like Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell and Melvin Gordon share the same sentiment.

Meanwhile, Trae Young, Darius Leonard and Robert Griffin III couldn't help but compare the situation to that of former death row inmate Julius Jones. Before he was granted clemency on Thursday, Jones was scheduled to be executed after he was convicted for a 1999 shooting that reportedly has several inconsistencies and doubts about the real culprit.

For his part, Colin Kaepernick called for massive changes after the verdict. Kap, who has been fighting and protesting racial injustices for a long time now, shared that the verdict shows the desire to keep White Supremacy in power.

ā€œWe just witnessed a system built on white supremacy validate the terroristic acts of a white supremacist. This only further validates the need to abolish our current system. White supremacy cannot be reformed,ā€ the former San Francisco 49ers QB wrote on Twitter.

The Kyle Rittenhouse case had been widely publicized, with athletes and the whole US waiting for the verdict to come in search for justice for the victims. The result, certainly, was not they were hoping for, especially since people died in the incident. Unfortunately, the verdict can no longer be appealed.

Here are other reactions from NBA, NFL and other athletes with regards to the verdict.

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