The NFL’s ownership group is made up of predominantly Trump-supporting racisty type white guys. As a result, free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick has not been able to find a job—while considerably less impressive professional players have. Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem during games has led to the kind of ignorant and bigoted backlash that most meaningful protests face. But there are tons of Kaepernick supporters who can see through the hypocrisy of a sport that continues to support domestic violence perpetrators while condemning players who support the Black Lives Matter movement. An important group of supporters stepped forward this Saturday—dozens of New York Police Department officers.
ABC News has some of the details.
The gathering, at Brooklyn Bridge Park, featured roughly 80 officers, according to the New York Times. Kaepernick has not been signed by an NFL team this season, despite the belief of many football analysts that his talents would prove useful to teams who lack depth at the quarterback position.
The event included current and retired officers from the NYPD, according to the New York Times.
The gathering in Brooklyn Bridge Park was organized by Sgt. Edwin Raymond and attended by about 80 officers who wore black T-shirts emblazoned with “#IMWITHKAP.” Frank Serpico, a former officer who exposed corruption in the New York Police Department in the 1970s, attended.
Speakers, including City Councilman Jumaane D. Williams, Democrat of Brooklyn, linked the backlash against Kaepernick’s gesture — no team has signed the quarterback for this season — to the violence last weekend during a white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Va., and more generally to issues of police accountability.
Atlanta’s NAACP is calling for a boycott of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
I’m not watching!*
*Two young kids at home makes that much easier to accomplish.