Tiger Woods blasted for telling rioters to stop 'burning and looting' their local neighborhoods

By Douglas Ernst - The Washington Times - Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Tiger Woods was swarmed on social media this week by critics who didn’t want to hear part of his George Floyd message: “We can make our points without burning and looting the very neighborhoods we live in.”

The golf icon’s critics came out in droves and berated him along racial and political lines for attempting to strike a balance between empathy for Mr. Floyd — the 46-year-old man killed while in the custody of now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin — and disdain for the destruction in cities nationwide in the wake of Mr. Floyd’s death.

Mr. Chauvin also faces charges of third-degree murder.

“My heart goes out to George Floyd, his loved ones, and all of us who are hurting right now,” Mr. Woods tweeted. “I have always had the utmost respect for law enforcement. They train so diligently to understand how, when and where to use force. This shocking tragedy clearly crossed the line. I remember the LA Riots [in 1992] and learned that education is the best path forward. We can make our points without burning and looting the very neighborhoods we live in.”

Critics of Mr. Woods, whose father was black, were not happy with his call for “constructive, honest conversations” on the issue.

Some responses include:

“You could have just typed ’Negroes behave.’ And saved a whole bunch of time and graphic design, etc. We know you ain’t with us. You’ve told us several times.”
“Sounds like a saltine!”
“I think he 1st said in 1996 or 1997 that he was not one of us. No matter how many degrees we have or how much wealth we accumulate, the avg cop doesn’t differentiate.”
“Soft. You golf with the guy who is declaring war on his citizens for standing up for a cause.”
“Oh so now you are Black. You would have done better saying nothing at all.”
“Your out of touch and so far removed from the Black community, that you don’t have a clue.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for the arrest of other officers involved in Mr. Floyd’s arrest and subsequent death.