Correction officers at Rikers Island have expressed their fury over Colin Kaepernick’s visit with inmates, blasting it as a stunt that could incite attacks.
Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback famous for kneeling during the national anthem, visited the New York City jail complex on Tuesday to meet with adult and teen inmates.
‘This will only encourage inmates to continue to attack Correction Officers at a time when we need more protection,’ said Elias Husamudeen, president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association said in a statement responding to the visit.
In recent months, there have been a string of violent incidents at Rikers, including assaults on guards.
Husamudeen pointed out that Kaepernick once wore socks depicting cops as pigs while playing in a 2016 NFL game, calling it a display of ‘anti-law enforcement sentiment’.
Kaepernick visited the New York City jail complex on Tuesday, sparking criticism from guards. He is seen accepting an award from Sports Illustrated in New York last week
In recent months, there have been a string of violent incidents on Rikers Island (pictured), including assaults on guards
The union boss laid blame for the ill-conceived move squarely at the feet of the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio.
‘Once again, correction officers find themselves caught in Mayor de Blasio’s political con-game,’ Husamudeen said.
‘This is yet another brazen display of the hypocrisy of this mayor who pretends to support us in public, yet does everything possible to jeopardize our security in private.’
Department of Correction spokesman Peter Thorne said the purpose of Kaepernick’s visit was to ‘share a message of hope and inspiration.’
Speaking on condition of anonymity, guards fumed over the ‘insulting’ visit.
‘That’s crazy to me to have a person like Colin Kaepernick in prison talking about police brutality,’ an officer who attended the event told the New York Post. ‘It was insulting for me to be there.’
‘In the inmate’s eyes, we are the police when they’re locked up.’
Kaepernick is seen accepting the ACLU’s Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award last week. His visit to Rikers Island has drawn criticism from corrections officers
The officer said that Kaepernick’s visit began with breakfast with the warden followed by two sessions with groups of a mix of adolescent and adult inmates.
At the first session, ‘they asked him about taking a knee, why was he doing it. He said he was doing it to call attention to police brutality,’ the source said.
At the second session, Kaepernick talked about police brutality right off the bat, and told the inmates that the NFL was keeping him out of the game for speaking out, according to the officer.
Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers in March of this year, and has yet to be signed by another team.
He has sued the league, alleging that all 32 team owners are conspiring to keep him from playing.
Kaepernick drew criticism earlier this year for donating to a group named after a convicted cop killer through his charity.