Former UConn stars are speaking up in the wake of the violence in Minnesota.
Breanna Stewart, Ray Allen and Liam McNeeley have all lent their voices, both on the court and on social media.
Stewart held up a sign that read ‘Abolish Ice’ ahead of her game in Unrivaled on Sunday in Miami.
The gesture came a day after 37-year-old protester Alex Pretti was shot multiple times and killed during protests in Minneapolis. Pretti was the second U.S. citizen to be killed by federal forces in the city this month, after Renee Good was shot on Jan. 7.
“We’re so fueled by hate right now instead of love,” Stewart, a four-time NCAA champion at UConn, told reporters. “So I wanted to have a simple message of ‘Abolish ICE,’ which means having policies to uplift families and communities instead of fueling fear and violence. I think that when human lives are at stake, it’s bigger than everything else.”
“It’s scary. You see it on social media, you see it splitting up families and dissecting communities and kids are being involved. It’s the worst in all ways,” Stewart said. “And to be married to (Brazilian soccer legend) Marta … we’re working to get her citizenship, and she is a legal permanent resident and all of that. But it seems like it doesn’t matter. And I think that that’s why these policies need to be put in place, that reform needs to happen, because it doesn’t seem to be affecting the right people. It’s not helping anybody.”
Stewart also posted a photo of herself with the sign on Instagram.
“As a mother, nothing scares me more than seeing families torn apart, children traumatized, and parents living in fear of losing their loved ones,” she wrote in the caption. “Our communities deserve better. They deserve safety, dignity, and compassion. Not trauma and division. Saying Abolish ICE is about advocating for policies that uplift families and strengthen communities, instead of fueling fear and violence.”
UConn men’s basketball legend and Hall of Famer Ray Allen also took to Instagram to speak out.
“We are at a reflection point in America. This country was built on violence—-and for Black people, that violence has never been theoretical,” Allen wrote in part. “For centuries, we have been terrorized, killed, raped, exploited, and systematically disenfranchised, then told that if something bad happened to us, we must have been the agitator never for once thinking an injustice took place. Honestly look at what has been unfolding over the past year.
“Silence is not neutrality. If you stay quiet while others are vilified, targeted, or killed, do not be surprised when your own rights are questioned. Justice is not selective. Freedom is not conditional. And history does not forgive indifference. This is the moment to speak— before there’s no one left to do it for you.”
Former UConn men’s star Liam McNeeley, in his rookie season in the NBA with the Charlotte Hornets, also took to social media, sharing a Bible verse.
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Proverbs 31:8,” McNeeley posted on X.
Tribune News services contributed to this report.
