A Fourth Alabama Player Was at a Deadly Shooting, in a Car Hit by Bullets

The T-shirt was deemed in such poor taste that the SEC said that any fans wearing it would be prohibited from entering the arena for Sunday’s championship game. A conference spokesman said afterward that security officials had not spotted anyone wearing the T-shirts.

“It’s meant to make you think,” said the man, who identified himself as Jimmy Johnson, from Mobile, Ala., as he stood in the concourse just after halftime on Saturday. The man, whose real name is Jason O’Rear, hung up without answering questions on Wednesday when he was contacted by the Times.

Last week he called the shooting a tragedy but said that Oats and Miller were being unfairly attacked, using an expletive. “The media is going to cancel Miller,” he said. “Now, I don’t condone anything about what happened, but I know where the media is going to come crashing down and try to ruin a guy’s career. I know where the clicks are.”

He was asked if he would feel differently if his daughter had been killed.

“I don’t know,” he said.

In Tuscaloosa, most of the bars along The Strip have been closed this week and the campus is all but vacant as most students have left town for spring break. Few who remain seem willing to discuss the shooting or the university’s response to it.

“Jamea Harris should be living her life and raising her son,” said Walt Maddox, the mayor of Tuscaloosa. “Her murder, as with every senseless act of violence, weighs on all of us. Our words are inadequate to provide comfort to her family; however, our actions matter to ensure justice.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/sports/ncaabasketball/alabama-shooting.html