Muhammad Ali's son believes father would have opposed Black Lives Matter movement

Boxing great Muhammad Ali, who was one of the leading civil rights activists in his prime, would have opposed the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement, according to his son Muhammad Ali Jr. While Muhammad Ali Jr. was not particularly against the anti-racism protests, the violent nature of the protests is something he opposes, and thinks his father would have done the same. 

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Muhammad Ali Jr. against violent 'Back Lives Matter' protests

Per Muhammad Ali Jr., his father, was an advocate of 'All Lives Matter' and not just 'Black Lives Matter'. "My father would have said, ‘They ain’t nothing but devils.’ My father said, ‘All lives matter.’ I don’t think he’d agree," Muhammad Ali Jr. told the New York Post. "It’s not just black lives matter, white lives matter, Chinese lives matter, all lives matter, everybody’s life matters. God loves everyone—he never singled anyone out. Killing is wrong no matter who it is."

The George Floyd death at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis led to nationwide protests against racism and police brutality. While most cities in the US saw peaceful protests, some of the major cities in the country fell victim to violent protests and riots. Destruction of public property and looting became a common sight which forced the authorities to place curfews in various parts of the country. 

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Muhammad Ali Jr. was extremely critical of the manner of the protests as he said during the interview that one does not need to trash a place to protest against social injustice. "Don’t bust up s**t, don’t trash the place. You can peacefully protest," he added. Ali Jr. agreed that the police officer (Derek Chauvin) was wrong with killing George Floyd, but he insisted that people did not realise that there was more to the footage than what was made public. "The guy resisted arrest, the officer was doing his job, but he used the wrong tactic."

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While publicly criticising the protests, Muhammad Ali Jr. even went onto compare the protesters to terrorists. The 48-year-old said these protesters are terrorising the community, beating up innocent people, destroying shops and police stations, which is similar to the actions of terrorists. "I agree with the peaceful protests, but the Antifa, they need to kill everyone in that thing. Black Lives Matter is not a peaceful protest. Antifa never wanted it peaceful. I would take them all out."

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(Image Credits: AP)