美国国家公共电台 NPR NFL Players Move Their Protests Off The Field, Grilling DA Candidates（在线收听）

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Some NFL players who took a knee during the national anthem to call attention to police violence and racism are now working off the football field in the political arena. Last night in Massachusetts, three New England Patriots took on five candidates for district attorney, grilling them on how they would make the criminal justice system more fair. NPR's Tovia Smith reports.

TOVIA SMITH, BYLINE: They're used to rushing, tackling and taking hits in front of 65,000 screaming spectators, but it was a different ballgame last night at an inner-city middle school, facing five candidates vying to be district attorney in the Boston area.

MATTHEW SLATER: Nervous level is pretty high right now.

SMITH: Patriots player Matthew Slater clutched a wad of notes as he sat down with teammates and twin brothers Jason and Devin McCourty.

DEVIN MCCOURTY: All of us at first was like, huh, you know? What do you mean us host a forum?

JASON MCCOURTY: It's been a little intimidating, to be honest with you.

SMITH: But ultimately, the three volunteered to do it, hoping to highlight the issues players started to raise by taking a knee.

D. MCCOURTY: The anthem had its role. But I think if we just took a knee every Sunday, and we did that for five years, would anything change in the communities? I don't think so. I think this is the focus.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Please join me in welcoming our first moderator, Devin McCourty.

SMITH: The two-time Super Bowl champ came out strong.

D. MCCOURTY: Our criminal justice system is broken. And our most marginalized communities, they are harmed the most.

SMITH: McCourty went on to make the case for why the DA's race matters.

D. MCCOURTY: DAs have the power to prosecute, the power to sentence, but they also have the power to seek mercy and second chances.

SMITH: It set the tone for the whole forum, as players threw out questions on discriminatory policing, immigration, racial disparities in bail and mass incarceration. And candidates insisted they get it.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Also, as Devin said, I know the difference between a criminal and someone who needs a second chance.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: We deserve a criminal justice system where wealth- and race-based disparities are eliminated.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: If you continue to prosecute people and not prosecute the conditions that exist that cause people to act out, you will end up with the exact same result - mass incarceration.

SMITH: Things got a little testier as some candidates struck a different tone.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: I don't hate on police.

SMITH: Several got heckled, and the audience grew increasingly unruly.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Screaming) They asked him a question, and they want the answer to the question.

SMITH: Leaving players struggling to maintain control.

J. MCCOURTY: Hold on. Hold on. Can I just say something? Just give everybody a chance to listen. I respect you all, like...

SMITH: The forum was the latest in a series organized by the Players Coalition, a group that recently struck a deal with NFL owners for a $90 million campaign for social justice. While some players have dismissed the deal as a sellout, UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Harry Edwards calls it good strategy.

HARRY EDWARDS: They're doing something that's constructive and productive without falling into the kinds of patriotic quicksand traps that have been thrown up, fueled and inflamed by the current administration.

SMITH: Pats players have also lobbied successfully to loosen Massachusetts juvenile justice laws in addition to holding court at last night's community forum.

D. MCCOURTY: Make sure you go out there and vote September 4. Thank you.

SMITH: Many in the audience, like 36-year-old Judy Rose, praised the players for knowing their stuff and drawing people in.

JUDY ROSE: My son is excited to be here. And normally, he's like, (groaning), Mom, why? But he's excited, and he was actually listening.

SMITH: Several, though, like Carla Sheffield, whose son was fatally shot by a police officer, were frustrated that players didn't press some questions harder.

CARLA SHEFFIELD: I just want to know if they would prosecute a police officer.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: I wanted to ask - I wanted to ask - I wanted to ask - well, they all said that they would.

SMITH: But then, moments later.

SHEFFIELD: Can you take this picture for me, please?

SMITH: For their part, Patriots players called the night a learning experience, but definitely a win. Just having the conversation, they say, helps move the ball down the field. Tovia Smith, NPR News, Boston.