sport news A group of Black Hebrew Israelites protests Kyrie Irving's suspension outside ... trends now
A small group of Black Hebrew Israelites were seen protesting the suspension of Kyrie Irving's outside the Barclays Center on Wednesday night, just hours after Nets general manager Sean Marks said that he has yet to speak to the star guard.
A dozen of demonstrators, mostly men, were observed by both sets of Knicks and Nets fans in front of the Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center subway station ahead of the two NBA teams' matchup.
One of them addressed the passing crowd with a microphone, calling for Irving to be recognized as a martyr for speaking his truth after promoting a 'film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate,' according to a statement issued by the NBA last week.
'[Kyrie] is being persecuted for that statement of truth,' the outspoken protestor said, according to The New York Daily News. 'He is being persecuted. He is being hazed by society today.'
'We're expressing our support of Kyrie Irving and his stance in terms of him knowing who he is,' Deacon Eythan of Israel United in Christ told The New York Post.
Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving was recently suspended for a minimum of five games after doubling down on an Amazon link to a movie based on book described as 'venomously anti-Semitic'
'Kyrie Irving himself understands that not only are we Semitic ourselves, but it is contradictory and hypocritical to say that someone is anti-Semitic when they are Semitic.'
Irving angered many after posting a link to the Amazon page for the 2018 film 'Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America' last week.
The film is based on a 2015 book of the same name, which has been described as 'venomously anti-Semitic.' Specifically, it quotes Hitler to convince the audience about the existence of a Jewish plan for world domination.
Black Hebrew Israelites do not associate with the Jewish people, as they believe they are the 'Children of Israel.' Some sub-groups believe that Hispanics are descendants of the Israelites as well.
