On a day when NFL teams grabbed the nation’s attention by coordinating demonstrations during the national anthem, a 97-year-old World War II veteran went viral with a solitary show of support for the protests.
Brennan Gilmore posted a Twitter picture Sunday morning of his grandfather, John Middlemas, kneeling while wearing a veteran’s cap.
Gilmore wrote: ‘My grandpa is a 97 year-old WWII vet & Missouri farmer who wanted to join w/ those who #TakeaKnee: ‘those kids have every right to protest.”
World War II veteran John Middlemas (pictured) , 97, shows solidarity with NFL players by taking knee
The image has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on Twitter.
The images was posted at 9.30am ET on Sunday, just hours before a number NFL games were scheduled to kick off.
The image quickly went viral, being shared hundreds of thousands of times on Twitter (Pictured: Colin Kaepernick, middle, takes a knee during national anthem)
The gesture is meant to protest police violence against black communities and was started by quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016, then playing for the San Francisco 49ers.
The protest has landed Kaepernick at the center of controversy for over the past year, who is currently without a team.
In an interview with The Springfield News-Leader Sunday, Middlemas said that he wanted to show his solidarity with the players as an expression of acceptance.
Middlemas, a farmer from Willard, Missouri, told the publication ‘that you have to love everybody.’
‘I wanted to communicate what I always told to my grand-kids and everybody else,’ Middlemas said. ‘When they’d go to bed at night, we’d tell the kids we wanted to be like Jesus.’
The protest was started by Colin Kaepernick in 2016, who said he was demonstrating against police violence
Players from 28 teams in NFL participated in the protest Sunday, following remarks made by President Donald Trump last week
Jacksonville Jaguars players kneeling in protest during the national anthem before the NFL International Series match at Wembley Stadium, London September 24, 2017
Middlemas added: ‘We don’t kill people. We want to make people live.’
The nonagenarian also took aim at Donald Trump after the President leveled a blistering attack against NFL players who choose not to stand for the national anthem.
During rally for Alabama Senator Luther Strange last week, Trump called NFL players who refused to stand for the national anthem ‘sons of b*****s’, later suggesting that owners shoul ‘fire or suspend’ athletes who participate in the protest.
Middlemas, who did not vote for Trump, described the President as ‘garbage-mouthed.’
Players from all 28 NFL teams participated in some form of protest Sunday, either locking arms or refusing to stand for the national anthem, saying that they are protesting racial and social injustice.
Trump called NFL players who participated in the protest ‘sons of b*****s’ last week at a rally and suggested owners should ‘fire or suspend’ those who do