San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began his national anthem protest fully aware of the criticism he might face and on Tuesday he said that that criticism had escalated to death threats. And it’ll be loud and clear to everyone why it happened. Crutcher was shot dead last Friday in a controversial encounter with Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby after his SUV broke down in the middle of the street.
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But it seems Kaepernick did not bring the threats to the attention of his team.
Kaepernick has refused to stand for the “Star Spangled Banner” before National Football League games, instead sitting or taking a knee, to protest against what he has described as racist police practice and the continued oppression of black people in America.
“His vehicle was broken down, he was looking for help and he got murdered”, Kaepernick said. “It’ll be loud and clear for everyone why it happened, and that would move this movement forward at a greater speed than what it is even now”. “People are being killed and not even being treated as human beings”.
Granted, I don’t want that to happen. “You know I think there’s a lot of people who have thoughts out there”. He then approaches the driver’s side of his vehicle, where an officer shocks him with a stun gun and another fatally shoots him. “I just hope people open up their eyes and see that there’s really a problem going on, and something needs to be done for it to stop”. Police video shows Terence Crutcher walking to the passenger side of his SUV with his hands raised.
The San Francisco field office of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation told USA TODAY that it would follow the Santa Clara Police Department’s lead but didn’t rule out taking action on its own. No one went and checked on him, no one tried to resuscitate him.
Not only did you just kill a black man, you killed a father.
Since his protest, some fans have burned his jersey, but others have made it one of the NFL’s top sellers in its online shop.
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Kaepernick also said that he plans to start a website soon to track a donation of $1m he will make to organisations supporting the cause of racial equality. He said he has people now vetting potential charities to determine the proper ones to donate to and will launch a website detailing his donations and how the money is spent.
