When the home team, the St. Louis Rams, came onto the field in yesterday’s game against the Oakland Raiders a few of the players raised their hands. It is the symbol of the protesters in Ferguson against Officer Wilson who was forced to shoot Michael Brown.
The players said they wanted to do something, yet there is a report they did not want to take a side. The hands up shows a clear support of one side, and something which the local police department did not take to kindly to.
Really, you should not blame the police here. With people calling for violence and more protesting these players give ‘credit’ to these protesters in a time when they should be asking for calm and less violence.
“We wanted to show that we are organized for a great cause and something positive comes out of it,” player Kenny Britt said.
Yet very little positive has come out of it. In fact, its been more negative than positive if one looks beyond the feel-good reports by the media.
The St. Louis Police Officers Association had this to say:
“Our officers have been working 12 hour shifts for over a week,” the SLPOA’s Jeff Roorda noted. “[T]hey 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.”
Maybe before these protesters get so worked up, they should walk in these officers shoes for a few days. They might realize who they are trying to make a martyr.