Trump Intervenes In China To Free Three Black UCLA Players From Shoplifting Charge - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#14862691
This comes after months of nearly every high profile black athlete, sports entertainer and media journalist, aside from Charles Barkely, calling President Trump a bigot, racist and white supremacist.

What kind of punishment will the university give the students for having completely botched a diplomatic effort between the university and the Chinese government, Ball's father's company's entry into the Chinese retail market, and for giving the university unwarranted negative press? My guess is nothing but a slap on the wrist. These guys will play for the school throughout the year.

U.C.L.A. Players Returning Home After Trump Asks Xi for Help

Three U.C.L.A. basketball players who had been detained in China on suspicion of shoplifting were on their way back to Los Angeles on Tuesday after President Trump appealed to President Xi Jinping of China on their behalf.

The players were arrested last week in Hangzhou, China, and accused of stealing designer sunglasses at a shopping mall.

“The three U.C.L.A. men’s basketball student-athletes involved in the incident with authorities in Hangzhou, China, are on a flight back home to Los Angeles,” the Pac-12, the athletics conference to which the university belongs, said in a statement, adding that “the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Chinese authorities.”

“We want to thank the president, the White House and the U.S. State Department for their efforts towards resolution,” the statement said, after the release of the players from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Earlier, Mr. Trump told reporters as he was leaving the Philippines after a 12-day trip to Asia that “I had a great conversation with President Xi.”

“What they did was unfortunate,” Mr. Trump had said of the players. “You know, you’re talking about very long prison sentences. They do not play games.”

Mr. Trump had said that he hoped the Chinese president would help the players: LiAngelo Ball, a freshman guard; and Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, both freshman forwards. He emphasized that it was a “very, very rough situation, with what happened to them.”

In China, where the justice system has a very high conviction rate, theft can bring punishment ranging from a few days to years in prison.

The highest-profile of the three who had been detained was Mr. Ball, the middle of the three “Ball Brothers.” The eldest, Lonzo, plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, and the youngest, LaMelo, is a high schooler who has committed to play at U.C.L.A. Their father, LaVar, has become a public figure, and has started a sports-apparel company, Big Baller Brand. Facebook has been filming a reality series focusing on them, “Ball in the Family.”

The U.C.L.A. team’s trip to China had been seen as a way to raise the profile of the university in that country, possibly attracting students who have well-to-do parents and who want to study abroad. Many American universities in recent years have increasingly relied on tuition payments from foreign students.


3 UCLA players face punishment at home after China incident

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three UCLA basketball players detained in China on suspicion of shoplifting have been allowed to return home, where they may be disciplined by the school as a result of the international scandal.

Freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were on a plane back to Los Angeles that was due to land late Tuesday afternoon after a 12-hour flight from Shanghai.

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said the matter "has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Chinese authorities."

A person with knowledge of the Pac-12's decision said any discipline involving the trio would be up to UCLA. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the conference doesn't plan any sanctions.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the school is weighing its options.

"I want to be clear that we take seriously any violations of the law," he said in a statement. "In this particular case, both Athletics and the Office of Student Conduct will review this incident and guide any action with respect to the involved students. Such proceedings are confidential, which limits the specific information that can be shared."

There was no immediate word on the trio's status for the team's home opener Wednesday night against Central Arkansas.

The school said the three players, along with coach Steve Alford and athletic director Dan Guerrero, will make their first public comments about the matter at a campus news conference Wednesday, but won't take questions.

Scott thanked President Donald Trump, the White House and the State Department for their efforts in resolving what he called "the incident with authorities in Hangzhou, China." He indicated that UCLA made "significant efforts" on behalf of its athletes.

It wasn't clear under what terms the players were freed to return to the U.S.

"We are all very pleased that these young men have been allowed to return home to their families and university," Scott said.

Trump said Tuesday he had a long conversation about the three players' status with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Ball, Hill and Riley were expected to have an immediate impact as part of UCLA's highly touted recruiting class. Instead, they are being talked about solely for their actions off the court.

Ball, a guard whose brother Lonzo is a rookie for the Los Angeles Lakers, averaged 33.8 points as a high school senior. The elder Ball played one season in Westwood and left early for the NBA draft.

The Balls' outspoken father, LaVar, was in China at the time of the incident. He spent some time promoting the family's Big Baller Brand of athletic shoes with his youngest son, LaMelo, while his middle son was detained.
#14863045
Many people commented and said that there was no way that the school could not suspend them, so I guess I was wrong. And the trio even went out of their way to thank the president!

UCLA indefinitely suspends three players arrested for shoplifting in China

UCLA wielded a stronger hammer than the Chinese authorities did with its three basketball players arrested for shoplifting in Hangzhou last week.

Coach Steve Alford announced Wednesday that LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley will each serve indefinite suspensions while the UCLA athletic department and office of student conduct review the incident. They will not travel with the team or suit up for home games, though they may eventually earn back the right to rejoin practices and team meetings.

“These are good young men who have exercised an inexcusable lapse of judgment and now they have to live with that,” Alford said.

“I’d like to start off by saying sorry for stealing from the stores in China,” said LiAngelo Ball, the younger brother of Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball and the middle son of sneaker entrepreneur LaVar Ball. “I didn’t exercise my best judgment and I was wrong for that. … I’m a young man, however, it’s not an excuse for making such a stupid decision.”

Among those who each of the players took time to thank was President Donald Trump, who intervened on their behalf by asking his Chinese counterpart for help resolving the matter. Trump had tweeted earlier Wednesday about the incident, asking whether “the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump?”
#14864078
I don't know how China would tend to feel as being used as a cudgel in all of this in the press, with the whole "these guys were facing 10 years in scary China" line.

I even heard one commentator on CNN during it saying "here in America, we have the best justice system in the world." [But in China, wooh boy, be ready for some bruising - was seemingly the implication.]

Never mind the facts in the matter, which include: when you are in another country you are subject to their jurisdiction and; that the US Justice system is nothing at all a beacon of righteousness, or for that matter, justice - one's relative fate often determined by one's mean and ability to pay for legal counsel.

I do not for a second believe the common consequence for shoplifting in China is 10 years in the clanger.

It also stands out that Chinese college students caught shoplifting in the US can clearly expect no reprieve, or sympathy.

Oh, and about that 10 years thing, I'm sure there are people serving such sentences in the US, for shoplifting (accompanied with previous convictions/probations). I would not be surprised if there are people serving life sentences right now, for essentially shop lifting (in the lands of 3 strikes and your out. Because baseball is very applicable to legal code.)
#14864111
Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!
12:42 AM - Nov 20, 2017

:lol:

The father didn't PRAISE Trump, so now he's all petty and childish about it. What a FUCKWIT!

If I was a parent, I'd have wanted them to make my son pay the penalty for his crime. It's not like they'd be going to prison for 20 years and tortured.
#14864139
Godstud wrote:Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!
12:42 AM - Nov 20, 2017

:lol:

The father didn't PRAISE Trump, so now he's all petty and childish about it. What a FUCKWIT!

If I was a parent, I'd have wanted them to make my son pay the penalty for his crime. It's not like they'd be going to prison for 20 years and tortured.


The father didn't even thank the president, and downplayed his role in getting his son and the other two players freed from China. He is an ungrateful asshole, a true piece shit.
#14864153
@maz Really? I wouldn't thank the President either if I thought my son needed a good life lesson, about committing crime in foreign countries. It was shoplifting, not murder. I can tell that you've never been a parent.

Trumps response is childish, at the very least. You are right, though, Trump is an ungrateful asshole, and a true piece of shit.
#14864157


These basketball players were saved from years in jail because they are Americans. I think Asian or Australian shoplifters would have served years in jail in China because their home countries do not have much influence over Beijing unlike Trump, who is widely respected or feared in China.

The Denpasar District Court has sentenced Australian Thomas William Harman to three-and-a-half months in jail for shoplifting.

The panel of judges found Harman guilty of stealing a pair of sunglasses from a duty free shop at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali.

“We declared the defendant guilty of violating Article 362 of the Criminal Code [for theft],” presiding judge Ida Ayu Nyoman Adnya Dewi said on Tuesday.

The sentence was lighter than the six months demanded by the prosecutor.

Harman, 31, was arrested at the airport on July 30 after he was caught stealing a pair of Gucci sunglasses from a duty free shop at the airport’s departure area.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017 ... fting.html
#14864159
:lol: Trump is neither feared or respected, by the Chinese. They simply know they have to deal with him, so they make compromises.

As I said before, some parents want their children to pay for their mistakes, and Trump didn't free those idiots for praise... or did he? :hmm:

Trump does this shit simply so people notice him.

Kudos to the parent who didn't "Thank" fuckwit Trump.
#14864167
Hong Wu wrote:I would have just left them in jail.
I agree 100%. When you are in a foreign country, you obey the laws or pay the price. What made them think shoplifting/theft was a good idea in China? :knife: Especially if you're the tallest motherfuckers in the country, and easily spotted! :lol:

It's unlikely they would have served much time, being ignorant foreigners with no criminal records in China. I don't think Trump should have intervened... especially since this was done as a "look at me!" thing, by Trump.

The father didn't respond like he wanted, so then he's all sour grapes. What a dickhead baby Trump is.
#14864170
Godstud wrote:I agree 100%. When you are in a foreign country, you obey the laws or pay the price. What made them think shoplifting/theft was a good idea in China? :knife: Especially if you're the tallest motherfuckers in the country, and easily spotted! :lol:

It's unlikely they would have served much time, being ignorant foreigners with no criminal records in China. I don't think Trump should have intervened... especially since this was done as a "look at me!" thing, by Trump.

The father didn't respond like he wanted, so then he's all sour grapes. What a dickhead baby Trump is.

Wow, we agree on something. That's great :lol:

I think it's atrocious that American culture gives people who don't need to steal an impression that they should steal anyway.

I'd also point out that although the sentence is 10 years, foreigners would almost certainly get out on good behavior much faster than that.
#14864172
Yes, Hong Wu, we agree on something. Mark it on your calendar. :lol:

I doubt they'd have served more than a year in jail, if that. Most countries in the world have suspended sentences for first offenders, as it's not the USA where they feel they have to fill the jails to make money.

I know a friend who recently got an impaired(drunk driving) charge, in Thailand. He hit a kid(luckily not injuring them), with his car, while drunk. He paid a big fine, and got a 3 month suspended sentence. If he steps out of line in the next 2 years, he's in jail. He still pushes his luck... :knife:


But hey, if you're in China, stealing and breaking the law is the last thing you should do as a visitor. It's more than DUMB.
#14864174
Nobody even knew those idiots were in jail, and probably most people couldn't care less, as they actually committed the crimes they were being convicted for.

Trump's comments are stupid, and narcissistic. The 3 guys who got out thanked him, but when one parent doesn't, he gets all snotty, and goes so far as to say that he should not have helped them. :lol:

No, Trump's a dotard.
#14864221
Godstud wrote:Nobody even knew those idiots were in jail, and probably most people couldn't care less, as they actually committed the crimes they were being convicted for.

Trump's comments are stupid, and narcissistic. The 3 guys who got out thanked him, but when one parent doesn't, he gets all snotty, and goes so far as to say that he should not have helped them. :lol:


It's been one of the top stories in the sports world; partly because one of the player's older brother is playing his first season out of college with the Lakers, but mostly because his father is constantly on the news being one of the biggest jackasses known to man.

Americans care more about basketball than they care about the issues we spend our time bickering about.
#14864232
O
h, and about that 10 years thing, I'm sure there are people serving such sentences in the US, for shoplifting (accompanied with previous convictions/probations). I would not be surprised if there are people serving life sentences right now, for essentially shop lifting (in the lands of 3 strikes and your out. Because baseball is very applicable to legal code.)


Actually this could very well be true. If it can be proved that someone entered the store with the intent of shoplifting that is Not shoplifting but burglary. (Entering an establishment with the intent to commit larceny.) With a conviction of this felony, in states with three-stikes-you-are-out laws, it could trigger a life sentence. Thus pointing out the utter silliness of such laws.

I am joining Godstud and Hong Wu in concluding that the correct thing to do was to leave these guys to their fate. I suspect that they would probably have been fined and expelled BUT if China wanted to make political hay out of them the sentence under Chinese law for shoplifting is 3 -10 years in prison.

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