Nike’s CEO praised one of the company’s black executives for confessing to brutally murdering a young boy in 1965.
Larry Miller, a Nike executive, revealed on Wednesday that he stabbed a youngster to death in a fit of rage.
“Miller’s story is an example of the human spirit’s resilience, perseverance, and strength,” according to CEO John Donahoe.
Miller, the chairman of Nike’s Jordan brand, admitted to Sports Illustrated that he executed 18-year-old Edward White in retaliation for the suspected murder of a buddy while a member of Philadelphia’s Cedar Avenue gang.
“Miller did not know the victim, or whether he had anything to do with the stabbing of his friend, or even whether he had any connection to the 53rd and Pine gang,” Sports Illustrated declared in its report.
Donahoe, who described Miller as “a beloved member of the Nike family,” said he thinks Miller’s experience “can help create a healthy discourse around criminal justice reform, by helping remove the stigma that holds people and communities back,” according to Freebeacon.
Donahoe’s support for criminal justice reform is consistent with the company’s political stances, which have been criticized. Nike recruited former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2018 and sponsored the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. Kaepernick is most known for protesting the national anthem. The company is one of numerous that uses Chinese slave labor to manufacture its goods, and it remained mute during China’s June crackdown on Hong Kong journalists.
Nike is “a brand of China and for China,” Donahoe said that month.
For his part, Miller says the confession has “freed” him.
“I feel the freedom now to be me,” he said.
