After 4 off-duty cops acquired a glimpse of the “offensive” pre-game shirts being worn by WNBA gamers, they walked out, inflicting a stir. Controversy rapidly erupted with some praising the police whereas others condemned their actions.
The Minneapolis Police Division made headlines when 4 of their off-duty officers, who had been working safety for the WNBA Minnesota Lynx sport, deserted their posts. The officers walked off in protest after seeing the gamers’ pre-game shirts and getting upset, and though the incident befell in 2016, there’s nonetheless a lot to be discovered from it at the moment.
On July 9, 2016, the WNBA Lynx gamers took to the court docket carrying black pre-game t-shirts that rapidly induced upset amongst 4 off-duty Minneapolis cops who had been working safety on the sport. The nice and cozy-up jerseys named two black males who had been shot by police, and the again of one of many shirts additionally confirmed a Dallas police badge two days after 5 Dallas officers had been slain. Included on the shirt had been the phrases “Black Lives Matter.”
Earlier than the sport, Lynx gamers mentioned the jerseys had been meant to honor and mourn the deaths, in addition to name for change, however the shirts, together with feedback made by Lynx gamers throughout a pre-game press convention, upset the unidentified officers, who requested group officers to have the gamers take away the t-shirts. When the group refused, the officers determined to stroll off the job in protest.
“What is occurring at the moment shouldn’t be new,” mentioned Rebekkah Brunson, who recounted an incident that she mentioned she encountered throughout her childhood, during which police allegedly confronted her and her buddies with weapons drawn. “We now have determined you will need to us to take a stand and lift our voices,” Brunson added. “Racial profiling is an issue. Mindless, violence is an issue.”
Though Police Federation President Lt. Bob Kroll mentioned, “It’s only a shirt,” he additionally added that the Lynx gamers’ protest was “anti-police” and that the gamers had been shopping for right into a “false narrative” about police misconduct, which he acknowledged “annoyed” his officers. “They’re wading into waters they shouldn’t be in, to start with,” he mentioned. “They’re skilled athletes. Persist with taking part in ball. Folks go there to look at the basketball sport.”
Nevertheless, not everybody agreed. In reality, Betsy Hodges, the Minneapolis Mayor on the time, additionally weighed in, calling the police union feedback “jackass remarks” on her Fb web page. “Bob Kroll’s remarks concerning the Lynx are jackass remarks,” she mentioned. “Let me be clear, labor management inherently doesn’t communicate on behalf of administration. Bob Kroll positive as hell doesn’t communicate for me concerning the Lynx or about the rest.”
Whereas Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau mentioned she understood the officers’ frustrations, she added that she didn’t condone their actions. “Though these officers had been engaged on behalf of the Lynx when carrying a Minneapolis Police uniform, I count on all officers to stick to our core values and to honor their oath of workplace,” Harteau mentioned. “Strolling off the job and defaulting on their contractual obligation to offer a service to the Lynx doesn’t conform to the expectations held by the general public for the uniform these officers put on.”
The Lynx gamers’ protest and the officers’ counter-protest got here at a time of racial unrest in our nation, much like what we nonetheless see at the moment as many allege that our nation has a racial profiling downside in addition to unjust violence towards blacks by the hands of police. Nevertheless, neither did something to treatment the issues at hand. As an alternative, it might appear that the actions of each solely perpetuated additional divide throughout a time that they had been alleged to be working collectively.
This brings us to why we proceed to share this incident. It’s a superb instance of what to not do. We should discover methods to truly handle and repair our nation’s issues. Neither the gamers’ “anti-police” shirts nor the officers strolling off the job achieved that. Maybe, as an alternative of giving one another the proverbial center finger, each events may have led by instance, displaying the nation find out how to come collectively. We hope that, when given such a possibility sooner or later, others will make a special alternative, selecting unity over division.
In a written assertion from the group, the gamers alleged, “We proceed to induce a constructive dialogue concerning the points raised by these tragedies.” Nevertheless, it doesn’t appear to be a constructive dialogue was had or inspired by their actions. As an alternative, it was simply the alternative, and that’s precisely what occurs when individuals resolve to take part in antagonistic finger-pointing whereas calling it “protest.” In terms of making progress, it finally ends up about as productive as a toddler’s mood tantrum. There merely must be a greater means.
