Just to follow up on the story we reported of players from the St. Louis Rams “displaying the ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ gesture to show solidarity with Michael Brown and Ferguson protesters,” the St. Louis County Police Department was none too happy with the pre-game stunt and has demanded a “very public apology” from the team:
St. Louis police officers upset over Rams players, demand apology http://t.co/fWYDEsEPbL #BoycottNFL @OkieVision @uncarich854 @nfl
— Danno: a JyD (@Danno_a_Jyd) December 2, 2014
Shouldn't the St. Louis police have better things to do than demand an apology from the Rams? They are looking like a big joke.
— plant-based pussy ♡ (@cupcakesbytheLB) December 2, 2014
MONDAY WORSTS: St. Louis Police Union rolls over 1st Amendment to demand apology from Rams for player protest: http://t.co/CELbpp6Ak4
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) December 2, 2014
Now here’s where it gets confusing. There were reports yesterday that the Rams had indeed apologized, at least according to the police. CNN reports:
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar sent an e-mail to his staff saying the Rams’ chief operating officer called him Monday to apologize.
“I received a very nice call this morning from Mr. Kevin Demoff of the St. Louis Rams who wanted to take the opportunity to apologize to our department on behalf of the Rams for the “Hands Up” gesture that some players took the field with yesterday,” Belmar wrote in the e-mail, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Rams, however, deny any apology:
The Rams deny apologizing to the St. Louis County PD over players' "Hands Up" gesture http://t.co/StJ89JKLxY pic.twitter.com/Gnh2i3aBf3
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) December 2, 2014
St. Louis Rams, police disagree over "apology" for players' Ferguson gesture. http://t.co/beT4P9JPdC pic.twitter.com/wrVJJ30U8M
— Good Morning America (@GMA) December 2, 2014
The St. Louis County Police Department responded to the denial on Twitter and defended their interpretation of what was said as a legit “apology”:
Regarding statements on an "apology" from Rams COO Kevin Demoff:
Chief Belmar was contacted today by St. Louis… http://t.co/8pF5QAIi87
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) December 2, 2014
Apology: "expression of regret for not being able to do something"@kdemoff: "I regretted any offense their officers may have taken."
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) December 2, 2014
And Ferguson demonstrators aren’t happy with the way St. Louis County cops are handling the he said/he said back-and-forth:
☆@ryanjreilly Chief Belmar was a giant ass to want an apology. #ferguson #p2
— ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The One! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (@AdversAerialOne) December 2, 2014
@ryanjreilly Whoever runs their twitter account felt snark would be appropriate…. https://t.co/spJKizAD50
— Stehlo (@Stehlo_Gaming) December 2, 2014
Demons, hallucinations: PD on LSD? '“@ryanjreilly: St. Louis Co. Police on Rams apology/non-apology:"the Chief believed it 2 B an apology”'
— kirk murphy (@kirkmurphy) December 2, 2014
Not helpful in reducing tension! RT @eyokley: Why. RT @attorneycrump: St. Co. police, Rams spar over apology http://t.co/h9PROqhaoN”
— Sharon Reid (@EduDiva) December 2, 2014
~ @stlcountypd oh. Ok, so you BELIEVED it to be an apology so it must have been. Huh. I wonder….. I wonder about so much more.
— PastryPlate (@PastryPlate) December 2, 2014
St. Louis Police department throws Twitter fit over Rams' non-apology for hands-up gesture http://t.co/jmQdR2UHD5 pic.twitter.com/ErZ68xTZtp
— Salon (@Salon) December 2, 2014
And that’s where we’re at now, with nothing new from the St. Louis County Police Department since their tweets from last night. We’ll update as necessary.
Related:
Twitchy coverage of Ferguson.
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