The police union representing officers who protect the Miami Dolphins has asked the sheriff’s office to refrain from escorting the NFL team when they host thier first home game Sept. 25.
The request was in response to four Miami Dolphins players who knelt during the national anthem when the team played thier first game in Seattle on Sept. 11 — the 15 anniversary of 9/11. Players Michael Thomas, Kenny Stills, Arian Foster, and Jelani Jenkins chose to kneel while the national anthem played.
Following the protest, Jeffery Bell, the president of the International Union of Police Associations, Local 6020, told the Miami Herald that the Broward Sheriff’s Office was asked “not to do the details anymore” for the Miami Dolphins.
A Dolphins fan and season ticket holder also wrote a letter to the editor of the Miami Herald Sunday, asserting that he would no longer attend games until the “disrespectful behavior” ended.
“Their protest has no link to the perceived wrong,” the fan asserted. He encouraged others to follow suit, stating, “protesting social injustice by not standing for the National Anthem does not fit.”
Foster, Thomas and Stills also knelt during the national anthem Sunday in Foxboro, Mass., when the Dolphins played the New England Patriots in thier second game of the season. Jenkins abandoned the protest and chose to stand.
Thomas, Stills and Foster kneeling during anthem again. pic.twitter.com/ZaBUeyCO2L
— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) September 18, 2016
The three players continued their protest in solidarity with embattled San Franscisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, for what Kaepernick has described as police brutality.
Kaepernick received backlash from police officers nationwide for his comments disparaging cops, and his support for groups such as Black Lives Matter.
Police officers unions were particularly incensed at the 49ers backup quarterback after Kaepernick was photographed wearing practice socks depicting police officers as pigs.
The Dolphins host the Cleveland Browns at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens on Sept. 25 at 1.00 p.m. ET.
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