St. Louis Co. police, Rams duel over reported apology
- St. Louis County police say a Rams official apologized; the Rams deny
- 5 Rams players had used to "hands up, don't shoot" gesture at Sunday's game
- A group representing police officers says it's infuriated by the move
- Rams coach says players were exercising free-speech rights
(CNN) -- The latest Ferguson confrontation isn't taking place on the streets of the beleaguered city, but between St. Louis County police and the St. Louis Rams.
The brouhaha started silently when five Rams players took to the field Sunday with their palms in the air -- demonstrating the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture used by protesters decrying the police shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown.
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Obama and leaders discuss Ferguson The St. Louis Police Officers Association was furious, saying the players "chose to ignore the mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury" in the grand jury's decision not to indict former Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson.
A Rams official spoke with police Monday. And that's when the he-said, he-said started.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar sent an e-mail to his staff saying the Rams' chief operating officer called Monday to apologize.
"I received a very nice call this morning from Mr. Kevin Demoff of the St. Louis Rams who wanted to take the opportunity to apologize to our department on behalf of the Rams for the "Hands Up" gesture that some players took the field with yesterday," Belmar wrote in the e-mail, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
But the Rams said that's just not true.
"We did not apologize," Rams spokesman Artis Twyman told CNN.
The team issued a statement saying the organization had "positive discussions" Monday with Belmar and other police officials "during which we expressed our respect for their concerns surrounding yesterday's game."
Police took issue with the Rams saying they didn't apologize and aired their grievances on Twitter.
"Apology: 'expression of regret for not being able to do something" @kdemoff: "I regretted any offense their officers may have taken,'" St. Louis County Police tweeted Monday night.
Apology: "expression of regret for not being able to do something" @kdemoff: "I regretted any offense their officers may have taken."
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) December 2, 2014 Police leaders meet with team officials
Aside from the disputed phone conversation, leaders from the St. Louis Police Officers Association and the St. Louis County Police association met with Rams officials Monday, the police groups said in a statement.
The talks were "productive but very preliminary," police said. They are expected to continue later in the week.
"We made some progress today and we had a healthy interaction with the Rams," the association's business manager, Jeff Roorda, said in a statement after the meeting.
"We feel strongly that they better understand our perspective and the perspective of the law-abiding citizens that support law enforcement."
CNN's Evan Perez, Dave Alsup and Wayne Sterling contributed to this story.
from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1pL0lGG
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