The Cleveland Police can keep asking for an apology from Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins.
But they’re not getting one.
Asked for his reponse to the police criticism of his “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford III” shirt, Hawkins said he wasn’t backing down.
“A call for justice shouldn’t warrant an apology,” Hawkins said, via Adam Ferrise of the Northeast Ohio Media Group.
Hawkins gave a rational, yet passionate defense of his actions, saying he’s afraid what happened to Rice could happen to Hawkins’ two-year-old son.
“If I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward and I couldn’t live with that. That little boy is my world,” Hawkins said, choking up. “My number one reason for wearing the T-shirt was the thought of what happened to Tamir Rice happening to my little Austin. And that scares the living hell out of me. . . .
“My mom also taught me just as there are good police officers, there are some not-so-good police officers who assume the worst of me without knowing anything about me for reasons I can’t control.”
This came after Cleveland police union president Jeff Follmer called the shirt “pathetic” and said Hawkins should stick to playing football.
Yes, because athletes can’t possibly have a social conscience as it pertains to the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy with a toy gun less than two seconds after police arrived on the scene.
As admirable as it was for Hawkins to take the stand, standing up for it later deserves as much credit or more, since the easy thing to do would be to let the shirt speak for itself.
