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Nedum Onuoha does not feel '100% safe' in the United States and has 'fear and distrust' towards police

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Former Manchester City and QPR defender Nedum Onuoha has said that he does not feel completely safe in the United States amid a "fear and distrust" towards police.

The 33-year-old has been in the USA for almost two years, having signed for Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Real Salt Lake in September 2018 following his Rangers exit.

And while Onuoha says he has loved living in the country, he admitted he is "always very wary" of how he behaves and "how it could be viewed by people who have power".

Protests have raged across America following the death of unarmed African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis last week after white police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Onuoha said: "I am comfortable but when it comes to any kind of brutality, if it's from the police, if they read me the wrong way then my life could be taken.

"I feel that every single day. It is not just me but everybody else as well.

"I am not trying to be overly critical to the police, there are plenty of good police officers out there, but sometimes I feel like people put police on a pedestal and make them seem superhuman.

"But the fact is over here they are just people from society with a badge and a gun and a lot more power.

"If you worry about the man next door, why would you not worry about the person patrolling the streets who now has more power, more guns but the same views?

"I never go out and feel 100% safe."

Sportspeople, teams and organisations from all over the world have joined the calls for change and an end to racial injustice.

Taking to social media on Tuesday, Newcastle defender and United States international DeAndre Yedlin detailed how his grandfather still fears for the life of his grandson.

"A couple days after George Floyd’s death, my grandfather texted me and told me he’s glad that I am not living in the U.S. right now because he would fear for my life as a young black man," he wrote on Twitter.

"As days have passed, this text from my grandfather has not been able to leave my mind.

"He was born in 1946, lived through the civil rights movement, lived through some terribly racist times in U.S. history, and now 70 years later he STILL fears for the life of his black grandchild, in the country he and his grandchild were born in, in the country his grandchild represents when he plays for the United States, in the country his grandchild represents when he’s playing in England.

"I remember being in elementary school, and having to recite the Pledge of Allegiance which ends with liberty and justice for all.

"Every American needs to ask themselves, is there “liberty and justice for all” and if their answer is yes, then they are part of the problem.

"In no way are we asking black lives to matter more than white lives, all we’re asking is we are seen as equal, as more than 3/5 of a man, as humans.

"My heart goes out in solidarity to George Floyd, his family, and all of the countless number of victims that have had their lives taken at the hands of meaningless police brutality."