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David Newton, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

Cam Newton wears MLK T-shirt in response to Charlotte unrest

NFL, Carolina Panthers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton made a statement on the unrest in Charlotte on Sunday by wearing a black T-shirt during pregame warmups with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. emblazoned on the back.

In all capital letters, the quote read: "INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE. -- MLK"

Newton doesn't typically voice an opinion on controversial social issues. But he spent a majority of his Wednesday news conference addressing Tuesday's shooting in Charlotte that sparked violent protests on Wednesday night only a few blocks away from Bank of America Stadium.

Reports indicated that there would be threats of a protest prior to Sunday's game versus the Minnesota Vikings, and about 100 protesters kneeled outside the stadium as the national anthem played.

The protesters chanted along to the beat of a brass band. They were then drowned out by noise from inside the stadium. Fans gathered along the ramps inside the stadium and watched the scene below before the game.

Officers wearing black riot gear surrounded the stadium, and police on bicycles lined up wheel-to-wheel to surround the protesters.

Also in Charlotte, Panthers backup safety Marcus Ball stood with his right hand raised and index finger extended during the national anthem. He was the lone player to do anything during the anthem.

Panthers safety Tre Boston said he thought about taking a knee on Sunday, but he wanted to wait until he and the rest of the team could find something that everybody wants to do to unify the team and the city. He said he was disappointed in Ball for holding up his right hand and index finger as his protest Sunday.

Boston said he hoped to have something prepared by next week's game at Atlanta to express how he and the team feels

"We have to do something. Everybody was watching us today," he said. "We have to find a way to show them not only will we play for you, but we want to be with you in these times, we want to show that we recognize what's going on. Not just make it a normal day of playing football. Some people want a normal day.''

On Wednesday, Newton said he wasn't "happy how the justice has been dealt with over the years, and the state of oppression in our community.

"But we also as black people have to do right by ourselves. We can't be hypocrites. And I say that on one voice and also another voice that when you go public or when things happen in the community, it's not the fact that things are happening, it's the way they are being treated after they happen."

Late Tuesday afternoon, a black Charlotte police officer shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott, who also is black, in an apartment complex parking lot about 15 minutes away from Bank of America Stadium.

The police said Scott exited his vehicle carrying a gun. Scott's family said he was unarmed and sitting in his car reading a book while waiting for his son to come home from school.

Protests involving hundreds on Tuesday and Wednesday night turned to violence.

"It could have happened in Atlanta. It could have happened in Los Angeles. It doesn't matter," Newton said. "It's embarrassing for things to keep happening, and from what I do know, we had an incident that happened in 2013 that had something to do with the police, and it went to jury and whatever, it got washed away in time."

Newton was referring to the 2013 fatal shooting of Jonathan Ferrell by Charlotte officer Randall Kerrick. Ferrell, who was black, was shot 10 times by Kerrick, who is white.

Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter. A judge declared a mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict.

"My big thing is holding people accountable, no matter what the race, no matter what the gender is, no matter what the age is," Newton said. "We all have to hold each other accountable. And that is the world we are living in.

"When you get a person that does some unjust things or killing an innocent person, or killing fathers, or killing people that have actual families, that's real. I have a son and a daughter that I'm responsible for. How would it be if one day they come home and there's no more Daddy? You can get a settlement, but money doesn't matter in that sense. We need people to be held accountable."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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