Cops walk off WNBA game over Black Lives Matter jerseys

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A police union official says four off-duty Minneapolis officers working a WNBA game walked off the job at the city’s Target Center arena Saturday after Minnesota Lynx players wore pregame warm-up jerseys supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

The shirts listed the names of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, both fatally shot by police officers last week. Castile was killed by a police officer in suburban St. Paul during a traffic stop. The shirt also showed the Dallas police shield above the phrase “Black Lives Matter.”

Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll tells the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (http://strib.mn/29zD4qo ) he commends the officers. He says they took their names off a list of officers to work future games.

The newspaper says Minneapolis police, the Lynx and the Target Center haven’t commented.

“If we take this time to see that this is a human issue and speak out together, we can greatly decrease fear and create change. Tonight we wil be wearing shirts to honor and mourn the losses of precious American Citizens and to plea for change in all of us.” – Rebekkah Brunson

A photo posted by minnesotalynx (@minnesotalynx) on Jul 9, 2016 at 3:34pm PDT

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.