Not impressed with the hands up BS displayed by the Rams WRs

[Ramhusker]

http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/loca...s-association-condemns-rams-display/19721979/

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Police Officers Association has released a statement condemning the St. Louis Rams football players who entered the field displaying the "hands up don't shoot" pose.

A spokesman for the St. Louis Rams says the team was unaware of the demonstration before the game.

You can read the full statement below:

St. Louis, Missouri (November 30, 2014) – The St. Louis Police Officers Association is profoundly disappointed with the members of the St. Louis Rams football team who chose to ignore the mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury this week and engage in a display that police officers around the nation found tasteless, offensive and inflammatory.Five members of the Rams entered the field today exhibiting the "hands-up-don't-shoot" pose that has been adopted by protestors who accused Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson of murdering Michael Brown. 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.SLPOA Business Manager Jeff Roorda said, "now that the evidence is in and Officer Wilson's account has been verified by physical and ballistic evidence as well as eye-witness testimony, which led the grand jury to conclude that no probable cause existed that Wilson engaged in any wrongdoing, it is unthinkable that hometown athletes would so publicly perpetuate a narrative that has been disproven over-and-over again."

Roorda was incensed that the Rams and the NFL would tolerate such behavior and called it remarkably hypocritical. "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," Roorda said.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you argue with that stance? All of it? Any of it?

The SLPOA is calling for the players involved to be disciplined and for the Rams and the NFL to deliver a very public apology. Roorda said he planned to speak to the NFL and the Rams to voice his organization's displeasure tomorrow. He also plans to reach out to other police organizations in St. Louis and around the country to enlist their input on what the appropriate response from law enforcement should be. Roorda warned, "I know that there are those that will say that these players are simply exercising their First Amendment rights. Well I've got news for people who think that way, cops have first amendment rights too, and we plan to exercise ours. I'd remind the NFL and their players that it is not the violent thugs burning down buildings that buy their advertiser's products. It's cops and the good people of St. Louis and other NFL towns that do. Somebody needs to throw a flag on this play. If it's not the NFL and the Rams, then it'll be cops and their supporters."

 

[RamPower44]

Britt and Austin should read a grand jury finding

 

[Stranger]

That to me insinuates they are supporting a punk thug that committed strong armed robbery and then attacked a police officer.

They need to explain themselves if this is not the case.

Yeah, he attacked a police officer... that's the story, and everyone is sticking with it. No wonder there are protests going on all over the nation.

http://on.msnbc.com/11WMfHa

 

[RamPower44]

I got onto a young kid for screwing off at work once and he use the race card.

 

[Stranger]

I got onto a young kid for screwing off at work once and he use the race card.

What does this have to do with this case, or the Rams pre-game gesture?

 

[RamPower44]

What does this have to do with this case, or the Rams pre-game gesture?

It has to do with folks need to own up for screwing up instead of playing the race card.

 

[Stranger]

It has to do with folks need to own up for screwing up instead of playing the race card.

So, what does that have to do with this thread?

 

[Boffo97]

Yeah, he attacked a police officer... that's the story, and everyone is sticking with it. No wonder there are protests going on all over the nation.

http://on.msnbc.com/11WMfHa

I'm likely not alone in not viewing MSNBC as a bastion of journalistic integrity.

For the grand jury's findings to be wrong, it requires a huge conspiracy. And the only reason behind believing such is wanting the narrative of white police officer shooting black man for no reason to be true even if it isn't.

 

[Stranger]

I'm likely not alone in not viewing MSNBC as a bastion of journalistic integrity.

For the grand jury's findings to be wrong, it requires a huge conspiracy. And the only reason behind believing such is wanting the narrative of white police officer shooting black man for no reason to be true even if it isn't.

So, the victim is a thug, his accomplice a liar who is protecting his dead friend, and the cop who did the shooting is an honest guy who shot a thug? Oh, and the protestors are just stupid people destroying their own neighborhoods because they are non-voting members of society who are so socially dysfunctional as to not know how to act in any other manner other than through violence.

The above is essentially the message I'm getting loud and clear here. Am I summing-up the sentiment accurately?

 

[badnews]

First of all, many don't believe the evidence, since it is collected by the police.
many don't trust the police. Can't say I blame them. (Personal experience)
So they make their feelings known, peacefully.

What pissed me off is that the shooting has been politicized by both sides... it's gross. Quit injecting politics and race into a story about police procedures that lead to too many deaths. "Justified" or not, cops shoot and kill too many, if Michael wasn't an innocent civilian.

the big one for me though is this hard line attitude that suggests that supporting the protesters equals supporting violent, rioting "thugs".

Narrow mindedness is a serious problem in America.

 

[RamzFanz]

Yeah, he attacked a police officer... that's the story, and everyone is sticking with it. No wonder there are protests going on all over the nation.

http://on.msnbc.com/11WMfHa

No, dude, just no. Dorian Johnson has been exposed as a liar so many times and in so many ways.

 

[Boffo97]

So, the victim is a thug, his accomplice a liar who is protecting his dead friend, and the cop who did the shooting is an honest guy who shot a thug? Oh, and the protestors are just stupid people destroying their own neighborhoods because they are non-voting members of society who are so socially dysfunctional as to not know how to act in any other manner other than through violence.

The above is essentially the message I'm getting loud and clear here. Am I summing-up the sentiment accurately?

I'm saying in this particular case, the man who happened to be black was completely in the wrong and brought his death upon himself, and the police officer who happened to be white acted appropriately. Those testifying otherwise have been shown to be non-credible either through recanting of their own testimony, or testimony contradictory of the forensic evidence. I believe that it would be a huge stretch to assume the forensic evidence was falsified.

Unfortunately, due to a history of ACTUAL unprovoked violence against African-Americans, including by police, people are leaping to assumptions that this MUST be more of the same, and nothing will prove to them otherwise. There are some people who basically make their living through race baiting helping to perpetuate this. I'm not sure where you're pulling your last sentence from, but it's not from anything in this thread.

 

[Boffo97]

A bit from a longer article on this...

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11958985/st-louis-rams-give-pregame-salute-ferguson-missouri

Britt claimed that he and his teammates were not "taking sides" with their display.

"We wanted to show that we are organized for a great cause and something positive comes out of it," Britt said. "That's what we hope we can make happen. That's our community. We wanted to let the community know that we support the community."

How could Britt or any others think their display wasn't taking sides? Unless they're insisting Brown was trying to surrender, coming out with the hands up makes no sense...

 

[-X-]

That was a monumentally stupid display, and the Rams will have to apologize.
Jeff Roorda made some monumentally stupid comments in retort, and will have to apologize.

If Fisher knew of this ahead of time and sanctioned it, then I'm supremely disappointed in him.

 

[jrry32]

There have been at least 3 separate investigations into the shooting and none came up with any evidence to support the indictment. The bad guy attack a cop instead of just getting his ass out of the street and going home. He paid a heavy price for a bad decision. The cops life will never be the same for exercising a God given right to protect himself.

The race baiters including our president and attorney general stirred the crap into riots that have destroyed even more lives and these players put themselves in the middle of stirring it up instead of being leaders in the community to bring calm to the situation.

The cops story doesn't make sense in certain parts(i.e. it's not credible). They should have taken him to trial to flesh out what is true and isn't true. The prosecutor didn't want to go to trial.

There was enough evidence to get a charge just from reading the testimony.

I'm likely not alone in not viewing MSNBC as a bastion of journalistic integrity.

For the grand jury's findings to be wrong, it requires a huge conspiracy. And the only reason behind believing such is wanting the narrative of white police officer shooting black man for no reason to be true even if it isn't.

No, it doesn't require a huge conspiracy. All it requires is a prosecutor who doesn't want to take the case to trial but isn't willing to drop it either.

 

[theramsruleUK]

I have no problems with what they did. Not one problem... Everyone is treating this as if this is just one isolated incident. The hands up gesture isn't strictly for Mike Brown anymore, it's obviously a representation of a much wider issue, even if that is where the gesture originally started.

This is bigger than just one shooting now. This sort of stuff has been happening in the US far too often. Obviously our receivers feel enough is enough and things have to change, regardless of how the Brown shooting occurred, so they made a stand.

Again, I have no problems with this at all


Obviously I understand everyone has different opinions... just giving my 2 cents

 

[Ramhusker]

I have no problems with what they did. Not one problem... Everyone is treating this as if this is just one isolated incident. The hands up gesture isn't strictly for Mike Brown anymore, it's obviously a representation of a much wider issue, even if that is where the gesture originally started.

This is bigger than just one shooting now. This sort of stuff has been happening in the US far too often. Obviously our receivers feel enough is enough and things have to change, regardless of how the Brown shooting occurred, so they made a stand.

Again, I have no problems with this at all


Obviously I understand everyone has different opinions... just giving my 2 cents

Too bad it's a piss-poor example to use for such a broader issue. Kinda taints your message right out of the gate.

 

[lockdnram21]

love it

 

[RamPower44]

View attachment 4315 love it

Games are to escape the pressures of real life and this was not time and place to do this.

 

[lockdnram21]

Games are to escape the pressures of real life and this was not time and place to do this.

i strongly disagree. This is exactly what was needed.