In a gesture of solidarity to the events surrounding the lethal shooting of 18-year-old Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri this summer, wide receivers for the St. Louis Rams took the field Sunday by recreating protesters' "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" gesture.
Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt initially exited the Edward Jones Dome's locker room with their hands raised, and were soon joined by teammates Stedman Bailey, Chris Givens, and Jared Cook. The players' hand signals vastly overshadowed Sunday's actual game, which featured St. Louis dominating the Oakland Raiders in a laugher, 52-0.
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18-year-old Michael Brown was shot in the street on August 9 of this year, following an altercation with city police officer Darren Wilson that saw competing witnesses' accounts. A lengthy investigation was undertaken, culminating with a grand jury's decision not to take Wilson to trial for the killing. That decision sparked widespread criticism and social unrest both locally and nationwide.
The St. Louis Police Officer's Association, however, was no fan of the Rams players'' actions. In a statement featured on KSDK.com Sunday night, the association claimed they were "profoundly disappointed" in the Rams' "tasteless, offensive, and inflammatory" actions. They also issue a demand "for the players involved to be disciplined and for the Rams and the NFL to deliver a very public apology."
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There's no doubt the Rams wideouts wanted to draw attention with their gesture. Now they've gotten it. As of Sunday night the NFL had yet to issue any official comment on the matter.
Watch Tavon Austin and the rest of the St. Louis Rams receiving corps' gesture below:
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