Rapper Jayceon Terrell Taylor, who goes by the moniker The Game, tweeted “I guess y’all “can’t breathe” either. #RIPEricGarner#AllLivesMatter” on the night two NYPD cops were murdered as they sat in their squad car. Later the same day he tweeted that his tweet was not a response to the murders, claiming that those who thought so had misunderstood. (A dubious assertion, perhaps.) Nevertheless a lot of people thought it was a taunt–a horrible kind of gloating. The responses came fast and furious, from the calm “not the right response bro” to “I used to love your music but I’ll never put it on again because clearly you’re a ____”. The profanity flew.
But despite the name calling and anger in response, The Game’s tweet was retweeted more than a thousand times. That means more than a thousand people not only thought what The Game said was all right–they thought they couldn’t have said it better themselves. That’s the part of the story that got less attention: how a one-off response gets magnified and shared.
I guess y’all “can’t breathe” either. #RIPEricGarner #AllLivesMatter @ Brighton & Hove, UK http://t.co/7ztu51OpY3
— Handsome Ass Nigga (@thegame) December 20, 2014
