Martin Luther King’s daughter took to Twitter this weekend to hit out at President Donald Trump and those angry at NFL players who knelt during the national anthem.
Bernice King, 54, tweeted a picture on Sunday of her father being arrested during one of his non-violent protests in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1958, adding: ‘People didn’t approve of the way my father protested injustice either.’
The tweets were in direct response to Trump’s comment on Friday suggesting that NFL owners should remove from the field any ‘son of a b***h’ who kneels during the national anthem.
The statement sparked a great deal of controversy, resulting in more than 200 players who sat or knelt while the Star-Spangled Banner played, with some team members refusing to even leave the locker room.
Martin Luther King’s daughter, Bernice King, took to Twitter on Sunday to hit out at those angry with NFL players who knelt during the national anthem. Along with her caption, she shared a picture of her father being arrested during one of his non-violent protests in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1958 (pictured)
The tweets were in direct response to Trump’s comment on Friday suggesting that NFL owners should remove from the field any ‘son of a b***h’ who kneels during the national anthem
Photos of King kneeling surfaced online over the weekend, including one showing the activist down on his left knee (left), leading a prayer in February 1965 after a group of protesters were arrested during a march to the Dallas County Alabama courthouse
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (pictured center in October 2016) started the movement last year in protest at police brutality
King, who was five years old when her activist father was assassinated in April 1968, said he dealt with the same kind of criticism.
She said many said he was ‘causing trouble’ and ‘called him an “outside agitator”.’
‘No form of protest, even nonviolent direct action, will be approved by people “more dedicated to order than to justice” or by the unjust,’ King tweeted on Sunday.
The day before, she also tweeted a picture of civil rights marchers kneeling in 1963, splitting it with a photo of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick – who started the movement last year in protest of police brutality – kneeling.
King wrote above the photo: ‘The real shame & disrespect is that, decades after the 1st photo, racism STILL kills people & corrupts systems.’
Over the weekend, photos of King kneeling in prayer – and protest- resurfaced online and went viral.
One photo, shared by the Martin Luther King Jr Center for Nonviolent Social Change, showed King, down on his left knee, leading a prayer in February 1965 after a group of protesters were arrested during a march to the Dallas County Alabama courthouse.
More than 250 people were arrested during the demonstration for parading without a permit, which had been a push to get to get African Americans in Selma registered to vote.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (center, in blue suit), who gave $1million to Trump’s inauguration festivities, knelt on the field with the entire Dallas Cowboys team prior to the National Anthem
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shadid Khan (center, in blue suit), who also gave $1million to Trump’s inauguration festivities, linked arms with players during the national anthem
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who reportedly supported Trump during the election, linked arms with his teammates during the national anthem (pictured)
Neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Tennessee Titans were on the field before their game on Sunday with both teams electing to remain in the locker room (pictured)
The fallout from the comments made by the president during a rally in Alabama were swift.
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shadid Khan and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones – both of who gave $1million each to Trump’s inauguration festivities – took the field to link arms with players in a show of solidarity.
And New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who reportedly supported Trump during the election, linked arms with his teammates during the national anthem.
On Monday morning, he weighed in, saying he thought the president’s comments were ‘divisive’.
Additionally, neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Tennessee Titans were on the field before their game on Sunday with both teams electing to remain in the locker room.
It was a stark contrast from last week when, across the entire NFL, only four players knelt or sat, and two stood with their fists raised.