Raptors' Lowry: Trump 'is a criminal' who should be charged

Reaction to the events in Washington, D.C., from around the NBA continued Wednesday night, and Kyle Lowry didn't hold back.

The Toronto Raptors point guard said the outgoing president is solely responsible for the pro-Donald Trump extremists who stormed the U.S. Capitol building.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday night that four people had died during the incident.

"I was reading ... there was four dead after the rioters stormed Congress," Lowry told reporters after Toronto's 123-115 loss to the Phoenix Suns. "And the man that was president, like he told them to do it. That man is a criminal, like he should be charged. You basically told them to go do this, and people died."

Lowry echoed Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers, saying it was notable that law enforcement and security failed to stop the rioters because if they were a different ethnicity, the results may have been different.

"The fact that people were allowed to basically rush in and take over a federal building ... if they were people of color it would have been a whole different situation," Lowry said.

Lowry also voiced his opinion after Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley decided on Tuesday not to charge the police officer who shot Black man Jacob Blake seven times in the back last summer.

"What happened in Kenosha with the officer not being charged is just kind of a slap in the face to Black people all over the world," he said.

The Raptors and Suns linked arms in solidarity during the national anthems Wednesday. Lowry said the decision was made by both teams as a statement.

"We just kind of wanted to show our unity together," he said.