A police union official said yesterday that four off-duty Minneapolis officers working at a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) game walked off the job on Saturday after Minnesota Lynx players wore warm-up tops 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 commended the officers after, adding that: “If [the players] are going to keep their stance, all officers may refuse to work there.”

The four officers have allegedly taken their names off a list of officers to work future games.

Before the game Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson said the players were “wearing shirts to honour and mourn the loss of precious American citizens and to plead change for all of us.”

After the game, team captain Maya Moore said: “We are highlighting a longtime problem of racial profiling.”