Photo Courtesy of NBA Central / Twitter
The internet reacted after news about Los Angeles Clippers forward Amir Coffey’s arrest surfaced on Monday, July 31.
According to TMZ Sports, L.A. police conducted a routine traffic stop around 2:30 a.m., pulling over a vehicle speeding in Hollywood. Coffey was a passenger.
During the stop, cops were hit with the smell of marijuana and began to search the vehicle, finding a loaded gun. Coffey admitted to police that the gun belonged to him, and they arrested him on misdemeanor possession of a firearm charge.
Police booked Coffey in jail around 5:05 a.m. before releasing him four hours later. He’s due in court next month.
After news surfaced, people couldn’t help but compare Memphis Grizzlies Ja Morant’s instance to Coffey’s. News Onyx reported that Morant waved his gun around on Instagram Live and in a Denver club in March. As punishment, Morant received a 25-game suspension. In contrast, Coffey didn’t wave it around and even admitted it was his to the police but was arrested. Some argued the situations were the same, and some people claimed he had a right to have protection on him in a city with many thefts. Others questioned why Coffey dealt with an arrest when Morant didn’t.
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According to California law, having a loaded gun in a vehicle while driving on Los Angeles streets is illegal. If a person must drive with a gun in the car, it has to be unloaded. California law also entails that unloaded firearms must be stored away in the vehicle’s trunk or locked in a container in the car.