An NBA coach's impassioned and emotional reaction to Tuesday's Texas school shooting has been widely shared on social media.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr spoke to reporters on Tuesday evening at a press conference prior to his team’s playoff game against Dallas.
The conference came hours after 19 children and 2 adults were shot dead after a gunman opened fire at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
As Kerr took to the mic, he told reporters that he was not going to talk about basketball or his team, adding: "Any basketball questions don’t matter."
A clearly emotional Kerr - whose father was killed by two gunmen when he was just 18 - called out US politicians to address the nation's gun laws.
"In the last 10 days, we've had elderly Black people killed in a supermarket in Buffalo, we've had Asian churchgoers killed in Southern California, and now we have children murdered at school," Kerr said, before asking: "When are we going to do something?"
Fighting back tears, Kerr contained: "I’m tired. I’m so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there.
"I’m sorry. I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough."
He added: "There’s 50 senators right now who refuse to vote on HR8, which is a background check rule that the House passed a couple of years ago. It’s been sitting there for two years. And there’s a reason they won’t vote on it, and that’s to hold onto power.
"So I ask you, Mitch McConnell - I ask all of you Senators who refuse to do anything about the violence and school shootings and supermarket shootings, I ask you; Are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers?
"Because that’s what it looks like. It's what we do every week."
Kerr continued: "So, I'm fed up. I've had enough. We’re going to play the game tonight. But I want every person here, every person listening to this, to think about your own child, or grandchild, or mother, father, sister, brother — how would you feel if this happened to you today?
"We can’t get numb to this. We can’t sit and just read about it and go, well let’s have a moment of silence."
“We’re going to play a basketball game and 50 Senators in Washington are going to hold us hostage," the coach added. "Do you realize that 90 percent of Americans - regardless of political party - want universal background checks? Ninety percent of us.
"We are being held hostage by 50 Senators in Washington who refuse to even put it to a vote, despite what we the American people want.
Kerr then shouted before leaving the table: “They won’t vote on it because they want to hold onto their own power! It’s pathetic! I’ve had enough!"
At this time, investigators believe the attacker "did act alone".
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has named the suspect as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.
The gunman was shot dead by law enforcement officers, officials have said. Two border agents were reportedly shot in an exchange with the gunman, but are now both in a stable condition.
Tuesday's shooting marks the 30th shooting at a K-12 school in 2022 and is the deadliest school shooting since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, per CNN.
President Joe Biden has responded to the massacre in a national address, saying: "We have to act."
The POTUS stated that "most Americans support commonsense laws", and added that it is "time to turn pain into action".
Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the victims and anybody else affected by this tragedy.
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