Woodley reacts to Ferguson rioters
“I’m ashamed of the people that are looting and rioting and busting holes and burning down buildings. They make it look bad for the people that are peacefully protesting.”
Ferguson, Missouri has recently been in the news following the shooting on Aug. 9 of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, by a white police officer, and most recently for a Grand Jury’s decision not to indict the officer.
Ferguson is also where UFC welterweight Tyron Woodley grew up.
Despite being raised by a single mother with thirteen children, far from wealth, Tyron excelled, making honor roll in high school every semester. He was also 48-0 his final season of wrestling, winning states.
Woodley attended the University of Missouri on a wrestling scholarship, graduating with a degree in Agricultural Economics in 2005. And now he is the #3 welterweight in the UFC.
He recently spoke with USA Today about the outrage he feels about the relatively small number of looters that have taken advantage of the situation.
“This is my city,” he began. “This is specifically my city, and I’m outraged. I live right down the street. I used to walk down here, sweep up some hair, so I could get a haircut, make some extra money. This was the spot. This was the hangout spot. There was a lot of good energy here.
“We didn’t have the idea that we had to get into trouble to have fun. I hate seeing it, I hate watching it. More importantly, I hate people that don’t understand the environment – how small Ferguson is, how it’s really a sense of community and, you know, it’s a good place. We shouldn’t have been looting and rioting, tearing up our own city. I’m ashamed of the people that are looting and rioting and busting holes and burning down buildings. They make it look bad for the people that are peacefully protesting.
“This is terrible. This is embarrassing. You can smell it, like it just burned. I knew the owners of this place. They’re good people. Good community people.”
“I’m not an emotional guy. I hardly cry at funerals. But I had to go in my closet for a second, and start praying for what have we come to as a society. Martin Luther King said ‘Let’s not make noise, let’s make a difference.’
“What’s our next step? I don’t have a clear vision, but I believe I have a first step … I think the first step is self actualization. We need to look in the mirror.
“For me to have something hit so close to home, I’m to the point where, literally, I have to do something.”