Seahawks’ Baldwin calls for change in wake of shootings
RENTON, WASH. Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin is “demanding ” that attorneys general in every state review policing policies, following two more police shootings of black men over the last week.
“As an American, a black male in this country, I’m suggesting, calling, I’m demanding that all 50 state attorneys general call for a review of their policies and training policies for police and law enforcement to eliminate militaristic cultures while putting a higher emphasis on de-escalation tactics and crisis management measures,” he told ESPN.
Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, was fatally shot last Friday by a Tulsa police officer, while police in Charlotte fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott, another black man, on Tuesday.
“This is not an isolated incident,” Baldwin said. “This is not an isolated conversation. This is not isolated just to some specific parts of our country.”
Baldwin, the son of a police officer, stressed that he isn’t speaking of all police.
“Now this is not an indictment of our law enforcement agencies. I just want that to be clear. We know that there’s a select few — a very minute few — of law enforcement who are not abiding by those laws and policies. However, we also know that there are laws and policies that are in place that are not correcting the issue that we have in our society right now.”
In fact, he said his father had chatted with him about how he attempts to de-escalate situations.
“My father’s a police officer, and he’s told me numerous times about his training and how they’ve gone through what they call verbal judo, which is essentially them trying to de-escalate the situation. From what I understand, and from what he’s told me and his experience in homeland security, is that that method of training is not consistent throughout the entirety of the United States. And that’s an issue.”
In response, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson tweeted, via the AG’s official account, that he had seen Baldwin’s remarks and wanted to sit down with Baldwin.
Baldwin isn’t the first member of the Seattle Seahawks to speak out. In fact, players affiliated with the association have been particularly vocal.
Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane sat during the national anthem in solidarity with 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, while retired Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, infamous for his one-word answers that offered no opinions, recently shared his thoughts on Conan.
“With what’s going on, I’d rather see him take a knee than stand up, put his hands up and get murdered,” Lynch said. “My take on it is: (expletive), they got to start somewhere ... I just hope people open up their eyes and see that there’s really a problem going on and something needs to be done for it to stop.”
On Wednesday, the team’s star cornerback Richard Sherman, meanwhile, criticized the public for not fully listening to the message protesting NFL players are attempting to send.
“More videos have come out of guys getting killed, and I think people are still missing the point,” Sherman said. “The reason these guys are kneeling, the reason we’re locking arms, is to bring people together to make people aware that this is not right. It’s not right for people to get killed in the street.”
Added Sherman, “When a guy takes a knee, you can ignore it. You can say he’s not being patriotic, he’s not honouring the flag,” Sherman said. “I’m doing none of those things. I’m saying it straight up. This is wrong and we need to do something.”
This is not an isolated incident. This is not isolated just to some specific parts of our country.