Rangers' K'Andre Miller Talks George Floyd's Killing, Experiencing Racial Abuse

New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller has spoken out about his own experiences with racial abuse in the wake of George Floyd being killed by a Minnesota police officer last week. 

In a statement on Twitter, Miller expressed his "growing concern for the safety of our citizens of color" in the midst of the ongoing protests across the country:

Miller noted the difficulty he faces as "one of the only people of color" on the Rangers. He was supposed to have a Zoom call with fans April 3 after signing an entry-level contract with the team the previous month, but the Associated Press noted a hacker posted a racial slur "hundreds of times" in the chat and forced the Rangers to shut it down early. 

The NHL issued a statement in the wake of the chat, via the AP:

“The National Hockey League is appalled that a video call arranged today by the New York Rangers to introduce their fans to one of the league’s incoming stars, K’Andre Miller, was hacked with racist, cowardly taunts. The person who committed this despicable act is in no way an NHL fan and is not welcome in the hockey community.

“No one deserves to be subjected to such ugly treatment and it will not be tolerated in our league. We join with the Rangers in condemning this disgusting behavior.”

The Rangers originally selected Miller out of the University of Wisconsin in the first round of the 2018 NHL draft. 

Miller is from St. Paul, Minnesota, where protests have been ongoing in the wake of Floyd's killing.