MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis native and former NBA player Royce White announced he's making a run for Congress in hopes of unseating Rep. Ilhan Omar, who currently represents the state's 5th Congressional District.
In a video shared on Twitter Tuesday, White announced he's running as a Republican for the seat, which Omar has held since she was first elected in 2018.
"We have to fight for freedom. We have to protect our communities. We have to restore what it means to be an American citizen," he said in the clip before going on to accuse Omar of being a "puppet for the establishment."
Omar was reelected in 2020 with 64.5% of the vote, and earlier this month, announced she intends to run for a third term.
White played basketball at the University of Minnesota and then Iowa State before being drafted by the Houston Rockets during the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft. He went on to play for the Sacramento Kings in the 2013-2014 season before playing in the Canadian league.
Throughout his short-lived career in the NBA, White was vocal about his mental health and accused the league of not being more accommodating toward players' mental health and treatment.
In the days after George Floyd's murder at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, White helped lead a massive march from U.S. Bank Stadium to I-35, condemning police violence and calling for accountability for Floyd's death.
White went on to organize and lead more protests with thousands of people in the summer of 2020 for the 10K Foundation, whose mission is to "mobilize hopeful citizens" and "push back against the tyranny of the state."
More politics news from KARE 11
Get more local politics updates in our YouTube playlist:
