George Floyd’s younger brother Philonise thanked and defended the Las Vegas Raiders after an online pitchfork-wielding mob ridiculed the NFL team for an awkward tweet intended to celebrate Tuesday’s conviction of Derek Chauvin for Floyd’s murder last May.

Shortly after Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer, was convicted on murder and manslaughter charges in the death of Floyd, the Raiders tweeted, on their official account, “I CAN BREATHE 4-20-21.”

The tweet was supposed to honor the 46-year-old Floyd, whose final words, “I can’t breathe,” became a national rally cry during the country’s reckoning on racism that followed Floyd’s murder.

Floyd said “I can’t breathe” 20 times as Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for over 9 minutes during the fatal arrest attempt last May, so the tweet’s altered phrase was deemed by many to be disrespectful to Floyd’s family.

The younger Floyd didn’t see it that way.

“On behalf of our family, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the Las Vegas Raiders organization and its leadership for their support of our family and for our nation’s ongoing pursuit of justice and equality for all,” Philonise Floyd said in a statement.

Raiders owner Mark Davis defended the tweet, which he said he came up with after hearing Philonise say, “Today, we are able to breathe again,”after the 45-year-old Chauvin was read his verdict.

NBA superstar LeBron James — who responded to the Raiders tweet with “The F^%K!!!!” with a face palm emoji — and celebrities were among the tens of thousands of Twitter users who found the tweet offensive.

“It was taken negatively by 99 percent of the people,” Davis said. “That happens. That’s part of social media.”

Davis said he was not aware the phrase, “I can breathe,” was also used by supporters of the police in New York after the death of 2014 death of Eric Garner, which occurred after he was arrested under the suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island.

“It’s a tough situation,” said Davis, who didn’t delete the tweet because he said there was no point — too many people had already seen it. “I feel bad it was taken in a way it wasn’t meant to be done. That can only be my fault for not explaining it.”

A majority of professional US teams and leagues issued statements supporting the conviction, but none faced as much backlash as the Raiders.

The tweet had more than 130,000 comments, most of which called for the quote to be taken down.

“Now, more than ever, we must come together as one and continue on in this fight. For the first time in almost a year, our family has taken a breath. And I know that goes for so many across the nation and globe, as well. Let’s take this breath together in honor of my big brother who couldn’t. Let’s do it for George,” he said.