Terrell Gausha upset by George Zimmerman’s acquittal, but still plans to wear USA colors
When 2012 U.S. Olympic boxing team member Terrell Gausha walks to the ring at the Fantasy Springs Casino on Saturday in Indio, Calif., to face Julio Garcia, he'll do so in the familiar red, white and blue trunks.
That will be a week after Gausha tweeted that he was so angry about George Zimmerman's acquittal in the Trayvon Martin trial that he vowed he wouldn't sport the American colors again.
Shortly after a Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman Saturday of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the 2012 shooting death of Martin, an unarmed Florida teen-ager, Gausha tweeted that he would not wear American colors on his trunks again because of his anger about the verdict.
Gausha wrote, "After this fight I will no longer wear Stars and Stripes on my uniform. That's over with." Later, Gausha tweeted "How the [expletive] can they make a big Deal out of Mike Vick fighting Dogs and let Zimmerman walk free for killing a young black male?"
Gausha, who is 4-0 with two knockouts as a pro, was one of many athletes who used social media to vent. But Gausha's case got a little bigger when his words were picked up by the celebrity news website TMZ.
TMZ posted a story that did not mention that Gausha's words came via Twitter and the piece made it appear that it had interviewed him. Gausha also said that did not do an interview with TMZ.
"I was shocked, disappointed and angry by the verdict," Gausha told Yahoo! Sports Wednesday in a brief telephone interview. "I was angry and I couldn't understand it. But you know TMZ. They made it seem different than what it was."
There was a public uproar after Gausha's words were picked up and many took to social media to suggest Gausha leave the country if he isn't happy.
But Gausha said he was simply angry and emotional and said his Tweets had nothing to do with his feelings toward the U.S.
"I fought many times for my country and I was always proud to wear that USA across my chest," he told Yahoo! Sports. "I never said I was ashamed, or anything like that. That was what I was saying."
