CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) – Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins says he was moved to wear a T-shirt protesting shootings in Ohio out of fear something could one day happen to his son.
Hawkins wore the black shirt during pre-game warmups and introductions Sunday. The messages read: “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford” on the front and “The Real Battle for Ohio” on the back.
The teary-eyed Hawkins says the same two-year-old boy people think is so cute now may be the same person some officer sees as a potential threat one day.
The 12-year-old Rice died Nov. 22 after he was shot by a rookie officer investigating a complaint about the youngster, who was carrying a fake gun. Crawford, 22, was fatally shot Aug. 5 while holding an air-pellet rifle inside a Walmart in Beavercreek.
Hawkins says he wanted to speak out after the head of the Cleveland police union called his action “pathetic” and disrespectful.
He said he was “scared” of a backlash, but chose to wear the shirt “because deep down I felt like it was the right thing to do.” Hawkins says not doing anything “would make me a coward, and I can’t live with that.”