Andrew Hawkins Emotionally Defends His "Justice For Tamir" Shirt

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Andrew Hawkins Emotionally Defends His "Justice For Tamir" Shirt

Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins emotionally defends his decision to wear a "Justice for Tamir" shirt before his game against the Bengals.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins wore a "Justice for Tamir" shirt before the Browns game against the Bengals yesterday and, predictably, Cleveland police officers demanded an apology, as did the St. Louis police department following a similar gesture from the Rams following the grand jury's failure to indict Darren Wilson on any charges related to the death of Mike Brown. Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a police officer who had previously resigned from a smaller Ohio department one day after graduating from police academy where he was found unfit, "weepy," and "distracted" during firearms training

Hawkins addressed the media today in response to police criticism and gave an emotional speech, parts of which you can see above, in which he listed the reasons why he wore the shirt. Choking back tears, he said his young son was a major factor and the thought of what happened to Rice happening to his son "scares the hell out of" him. He also spoke about how a call for justice for wrongdoing does not prevent him from appreciating the role law enforcement plays in the community and it shouldn't offend anyone, or "warrant an apology."

In a longer video posted by The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Hawkins continues, "my wearing of the t-shirt wasn't a stance against every police officer or police departments. My wearing of the t-shirt is a stance against wrong individuals doing the wrong thing, for the wrong reasons, to innocent people." Definitely check out that longer video because this is a reasonable man, making a whole lot of sense.

[WOIO]