From the “Awww, Poor Baby” Files:
Reacting to five members of the St. Louis Rams coming onto the field for Sunday’s game displaying the ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ gesture, a St. Louis police officers fraternal organization is demanding the team discipline the players, and that the team and league issue a formal apology, reports KSDK…
Responding to the display, the statement reads, “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.”
You know what ELSE is “tasteless, offensive and inflammatory”? Subverting a grand jury process so a cop doesn’t have to face charges. Conducting a secret trial designed to exonerate said cop. Announcing grand jury results well after sundown and calling a state of emergency a week before the decision. Smearing the kid’s parents. Burning down the kid’s father’s church. These are all things that, in my opinion anyway, are a lot more “tasteless, offensive and inflammatory” than a few football players expressing their opinion.
Also, too, I find that the St. Louis policemen’s misunderstanding of how the First Amendment works to be “tasteless, offensive and inflammatory”:
[SLPOA Business Manager Jeff Roorda said] “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.”
Somebody call the waaaahmbulance, because I think Jeffy’s gonna make a poopoo in his diaper.
