NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
There is no backdown in this kid. ZERO.
http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/foo...rdson-calls-ex-ferguson-pig-article-1.2032586
St. Louis product Sheldon Richardson, who played college ball at Missouri, is still upset over Ferguson ruling.
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Sheldon Richardson’s visceral reaction to a Missouri grand jury’s decision not to indict ex-Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown is raw and real.
Anger and sadness still fill the Jets defensive lineman more than a week after the news prompted the looting and burning of businesses in his hometown.
Richardson, born and raised in St. Louis, hopes the violent protests will stop even though his feelings about the white former law enforcement official at the center of this firestorm will never change.
“Darren Wilson is a pig,” Richardson told the Daily News on Wednesday, speaking before the Staten Island grand jury decision in the Eric Gardner case. “I’m not talking about all cops. I’m just talking about one in particular.”
Richardson, one of the few bright spots during this forgettable Jets season, was proud of the Hands-Up-Don’t-Shoot gesture by five Rams players during pregame introductions last weekend.
The players’ show of solidarity drew the ire of the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association that demanded an apology from the team and discipline from the NFL, but Richardson supported tight end Jared Cook and wide receivers Tavon Austin, Chris Givens, Kenny Britt and Stedman Bailey for voicing their opinions.
“I’m glad somebody else in the league said something besides me. I’m happy about somebody else taking a stand,” said Richardson, who took to Twitter the night of the grand jury ruling on Nov. 24. His tweet that night: “NOT A HAPPY CAMPER PPL got my ass kicked today n they let this pig get off. I just hope my fam okay.STL YOU ARE ALWAYS IN MY PRAYERS.”
Although the NFL didn’t discipline the Rams players, some believe that a football field isn’t a place to make social statements. Richardson is smart enough to know that the league prefers to remain on the sideline on such a controversial topic, but he’s not afraid to let everyone know where he stands.
“The NFL is the NFL. The NFLPA is the players,” Richardson said. “So we have the option to do what we want as long as we’re not throwing up obscene gestures. We’re just protesting peacefully. . . . It’s an opinion. You’re going to agree with it or you’re not. I really don’t give a damn if you agree with me or not. I don’t care if you don’t like me no more or don’t root for me no more. I stand for what I stand for.
I’m from St. Louis. I know how people act there. I’m used to it. I’m not going to change who I am because I got a fan base now.” 
Richardson grew up less than 10 minutes from Ferguson. His family, including his parents, still lives in St. Louis. The unrest in a place he calls home is troubling.
Although he doesn’t condone the violence in the streets, he’s not sure there will ever be peace. He has seen social injustices his entire life. He doesn’t blame those angered by the legal system.
“I know the tolerance level of people back home in the inner city,” Richardson said. “They’re just fed up with that. They’re fed up with being wrongfully profiled. That’s been happening. . . . It’s usually his word against the officer’s. But Mike Brown’s dead, so we’ll (never know) his word.”
Richardson speaks to a fundamental mistrust of white law enforcement, a racial divide that has yet to be bridged. Brown’s death enraged a community and fueled a debate that might never end.
Richardson is saddened, but not surprised by the outrage. “I’ve never had trust for them too much anyway really,” Richardson said of law enforcement. “I’ve never depended on police officers. My Second Amendment rights in my household have always been used.”
The grand jury decision has upset him from the moment he got word after the Jets lost to the Bills in Detroit. He knows the discontent in his angered and confused community won’t disappear anytime soon, if ever.
Richardson gets updates from friends and family in Missouri these days. He speaks with passion. He wants peaceful protest. The looting must stop.
“Don’t destroy what’s ours,” he said in a quiet moment.
The right solution escapes him, but he knows this: There has to be a better way to heal.
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