After a grand jury in Ferguson, Mo. declined to indict a police officer for the shooting and killing of an unarmed teenager, it sparked protests around the country.

From New York to Los Angeles, citizens took to the streets with the “hands up, don’t shoot” pose to show their displeasure that Officer Darren Wilson will not face criminal charges in the death of 18-year old Michael Brown and to raise awareness about the issue of racial profiling by police. 

That group now includes members of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams and The St. Louis Police Officers Association (SLPOA) is not happy about it.

During the Rams’ home game Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, five members of the team, Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, Chris Givens and Kenny Britt, came onto the field with arms raised in the “hands up, don’t shoot” pose.

The SLPOA quickly released a statement denouncing the action.

“The St. Louis Police Officers Association is profoundly disappointed with the members of the St. Louis Rams football team who chose to ignore the mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury this week and engage in a display that police officers around the nation found tasteless, offensive and inflammatory, ” the statement read. “Five members of the Rams entered the field today exhibiting the “hands-up-don’t-shoot” pose that has been adopted by protesters who accused Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson of murdering Michael Brown. The gesture has become synonymous with assertions that Michael Brown was innocent of any wrongdoing and attempting to surrender peacefully when Wilson, according to some now-discredited witnesses, gunned him down in cold blood.”

The union is also calling the Rams organization hypocritical for allowing the gestures after what took place during the riots in Ferguson.

“All week long, the Rams and the NFL were on the phone with the St. Louis Police Department asking for assurances that the players and the fans would be kept safe from the violent protesters who had rioted, looted, and burned buildings in Ferguson,” SLPOA Business Manager Jeff Roorda said. “Our officers have been working 12 hour shifts for over a week, they had days off including Thanksgiving canceled so that they could defend this community from those on the streets that perpetuate this myth that Michael Brown was executed by a brother police officer and then, as the players and their fans sit safely in their dome under the watchful protection of hundreds of St. Louis’s finest, they take to the turf to call a now-exonerated officer a murderer, that is way out-of-bounds, to put it in football parlance.”

The SLPOA is calling for the five players involved to be disciplined and for the Rams and the NFL to deliver a very public apology.

Brian McCarthy, vice president of communications for the NFL released a statement Monday morning regarding the incident saying the league won’t discipline the players involved. 

“We respect and understand the concerns of all individuals who have expressed views on this tragic situation,” McCarthy said.