St. Louis Rams ‘Hands Up Don’t Shoot’ Stunt Will Go Unpunished By NFL
St. Louis Rams players who engaged in the “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” stunt at the beginning of the Oakland Raiders game on Sunday will not be punished by the NFL. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the St. Louis Police Officers Association called on the NFL to discipline the five players who referenced the Michael Brown shooting and the Darren Wilson grand jury decision in Ferguson.
The St. Louis police group was reportedly furious at what they deemed a great show disrespect. The law enforcement association also noted that the St. Louis Rams and fans were eager to have their protection from the Ferguson rioters who completely destroyed at least 12 businesses, damaged significantly more, and subjected multiple stores and restaurants to looting.
Police in the St. Louis area are reportedly “profoundly disappointed” with the NFL decision not to discipline Rams players involved in the “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” pre-game display on Sunday. The police association wanted the disciplinary action to also involve a public apology to the police.
A statement by the St. Louis Police Officers Association said, “The players chose to ignore mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury this week. The gesture has become synonymous with assertions that Michael Brown was innocent of any wrongdoing and attempting to surrender peacefully when Wilson, according to some now-discredited witnesses, gunned him down in cold blood.”
Police association business manager Jeff Roorda added, “It is unthinkable that homegrown athletes would so publicly perpetuate a native that has been disproven over and over again. I’d remind the NFL and their players that it is not the violent thugs burning down buildings that buy their advertisers’ products. It’s cops and the good people of St. Louis and other NFL towns that do.”
St. Louis Police Association (SLPOA) business manager had this to say about the Rams “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” stunt.
“All week long, the Rams and the NFL were on the phone with the St. Louis Police Department asking for assurances that the players and the fans would be kept safe from the violent protesters who had rioted, looted, and burned buildings in Ferguson. Our officers have been working 12 hour shifts for over a week, they had days off including Thanksgiving cancelled so that they could defend this community from those on the streets that perpetuate this myth that Michael Brown was executed by a brother police officer and then, as the players and their fans sit safely in their dome under the watchful protection of hundreds of St. Louis’s finest, they take to the turf to call a now-exonerated officer a murderer, that is way out-of-bounds, to put it in football parlance.”
Do you think the NFL should have disciplined the St. Louis Rams “Hand Up Don’t Shoot” Michael Brown shooting and Darren Wilson display?
[Image via: NBC News]
