St. Louis police organization wants Rams punished for 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' gesture; NFL won't discipline per reports

Prior to Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams and the Oakland Raiders, five rams players -  wide receiver Tavon Austin, wide receiver Stedman Bailey, wide receiver Kenny Britt, wide receiver Chris Givens and tight end Jared Cook - held up their hands in a gesture that has coincided with protests of the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri. The gesture, known as the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" pose, has been used in many rallies to protest police brutality against African American men.

According to the website for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the St. Louis Police officers Association said in a statement they'd like the NFL have the players apologize. They also want the league to discipline the tight end and four wide receivers.

"I know that there are those that will say that these players are simply exercising their First Amendment rights," SLPOA Business Manager Jeff Roorda said. "Well, I've got news for people who think that way, cops have first amendment rights too, and we plan to exercise ours." Roorda cited the recent events surrouding the shooting of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. The business manager points to the grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson.

Roorda said "now that the evidence is in and Officer Wilson's account has been verified by physical and ballistic evidence as well as eye-witness testimony, which led the grand jury to conclude that no probable cause existed that Wilson engaged in any wrongdoing, it is unthinkable that hometown athletes would so publicly perpetuate a narrative that has been disproven over-and-over again." While some eyewitness testimony indicates the 18-year old Brown had his hands up before Wilson shot him, Wilson denies it.

You can read the entire SLPOA statement here.

"Kenny Britt told me he was doing it, and some of the other guys were doing it," Cook said per the dispatch. "So we all just hopped on the bandwagon and came up with the idea of how we were going to do it."

Jeff Fisher said he had no knowledge of the player's actions. Britt explained he didn't want to bother his head coach with the details.

Per ESPN, Britt also wanted to stress he wasn't "taking sides."

"We wanted to show that we are organized for a great cause and something positive comes out of it," Britt said. "That's what we hope we can make happen. That's our community. We wanted to let the community know that we support the community."

NFL Vice President of Communications of Brian McCarthy said in a statement, "We respect and understand the concerns of all individuals who have expressed views on this tragic situation."

ESPN reports, citing sources, the league will not discipline the Rams players.