Former MLB Star Dale Murphy Takes Stand Against Systemic Racism and Police Brutality After Son is Shot in Eye During Denver Protest

Former Major Leaguer and two time NL MVP, Dale Murphy, said his son, Tyson, was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet peacefully protesting the death of George Floyd at a demonstration Sunday in Denver, Colorado.

In a long, worthwhile twitter thread, Murphy outlines the injuries his son suffered and uses his platform to discuss systemic racism.

Dale said Tyson’s eye was saved by a “kind stranger handing out goggles shortly before the shooting.” Another person, he wrote, drove Tyson to the emergency room.

Dale then used Tyson’s situation to shed light on the plight black Americans face daily.

“As terrible as this experience has been,” he tweeted, “we know that it’s practically nothing compared to the systemic racism and violence against Black life that [Tyson] was protesting in the first place. Black communities across America have been terrorized for centuries by excessive police force.”

Then, he asked followers to take a risk, like Tyson, if they are inheritors of systemic racism.

“If you’re a beneficiary of systemic racism, then you will not be able to dismantle it at no cost to yourself. You will have to put yourself at risk. It might not always result in being physically attacked, but it will require you to make yourself vulnerable.”

He concluded his thread by providing ways to create a more just world, including peaceful protesting or donating to social justice groups. He included the twitter handles for Black Lives Matter and the NAACP Legal defence fund.

Before Tyson went to protest on Sunday, Dale tweeted his support for the peaceful protestors. In the post, he also shared a link to other groups he supports, one being Colin Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights Camp.”