Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr on Wednesday rebuked the federal government’s inaction to prevent gun violence in the wake of the Parkland school shooting.
“It doesn’t seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day in schools,” Kerr told reporters Wednesday. “It doesn’t matter that people are being shot at a concert, at a movie theater. It’s not enough, apparently, to move our leadership, our government, the people who are running this country to actually do anything.”
At least 17 people were killed when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history.
Kerr called the inaction in the United States “demoralizing” and suggested it was up to the voters to hold lawmakers accountable.
“We can do something about it. We can vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives,” Kerr said.
“Hopefully we can find enough people with courage to actually help our citizens remain safe and focus on the real safety issues, not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars that has nothing to do with our safety,” he added, referencing President Donald Trump’s proposed southern border wall.
Kerr has criticized Trump and his policies in the past, which he has argued are divisive and lacking in respect.
The NBA coach has also been personally impacted by gun violence. His father, Malcolm Kerr, was assassinated by a gunman in Beirut in 1984.