NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar believes that although we should mourn the deαths of two NYPD cops who were gunned down over the weekend, we shouldn’t assume that the kιller’s actions were driven by protesters.

“Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the suιcidal kιller, wasn’t an impassioned activist expressing political frustration, he was a troubled man who had shot his girlfriend earlier that same day,” wrote the basketball legend in TIME magazine.

He continued “The protests are no more to blame for his actions than The Catcher in the Rye was for the mυrder of John Lennon or the movie Taxi Driver for the attempted assαssination of Ronald Reagan.”

Abdul-Jabbar says what we see happening is an intentional attempt to undermine protesters, especially by police unions.

“Those who are trying to connect the murders of the officers with the thousands of articulate and peaceful protestors across America are being deliberately misleading in a cynical and selfish effort to turn public sentiment against the protestors,” he explained. “This is the same strategy used when trying to lump in the violence and looting with the legitimate protestors, who have disavowed that behavior. They hope to misdirect public attention and emotion in order to stop the protests and the progressive changes that have already resulted. Shaming and blaming is a lot easier than addressing legitimate claims.”

Specifically, Abdul-Jabbar pointed to the ways in which police officials have deliberately attempted to inflame tensions.

“New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s previous public support of protestors has created friction with these unions. The Patrolman’s Benevolent Association responded with a petition asking that the mayor not attend the funerals of officers kιlled in the line of duty. Following the mυrders of Ramos and Liu, an account appearing to represent the Sergeants Benevolent Association tweeted: ‘The bloοd of 2 executed police officers is on the hands of Mayor de Blasio.’ Former New York governor George Pataki tweeted: ‘Sickened by these bαrbaric acts, which sadly are a predictable outcome of divisive anti-cop rhetoric of #ericholder and #mayordeblasio. #NYPD.'”

The basketball legend calls this kind of logic “baffling” and “phony.”

He concluded: “Police are not under attack, institutionalized racism is. Trying to remove sεxually abυsive priests is not an attαck on Catholicism, nor is removing ineffective teachers an attαck on education.”