UFC welterweight contender Tyron Woodley, a native of Ferguson, Missouri, says he's "outraged" and "ashamed" by the violent protests in his home city following a grand jury's ruling to not indict police officer Darren Wilson after he shot and killed teenager Michael Brown in August.
In an interview with USA Today, T-Wood expressed his discontent with the city's residents who have vandalized, looted and burned local businesses to express their discontent about the situation—visiting several damaged Ferguson locations firsthand.
This is my city. This is specifically my city, and I'm outraged. ... We didn't get into 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, ya know, it's a good place. We shouldn't be looting and rioting, tearing up our own city. I'm ashamed of the people that are looting and rioting.
The Ferguson community reacted harshly after St. Louis County prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch announced on Friday that Wilson would not face any criminal charges, as car and business windows were almost immediately smashed and vehicles and buildings were also set on fire, as reported by the New York Times.
As many in the black community have come out to support Brown and condemn the grand jury proceedings, an attorney for the Brown family simply called the decision not to indict Wilson "unfair," per CBSNews.com.
Although a federal civil rights investigation of the August 9 incident continues, a CNN.com report indicates that protests, mostly of a peaceful nature, continue throughout major cities in the country.
In an exclusive one-on-one interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, Wilson said he has a "clear conscious" over the situation and is confident he will not be charged as a result of the federal probe, either.
Woodley, a former two-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri, is 3-1 in his past four fights and squares off with surging contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 183 in January.
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
