Veterans took a knee during the pledge of allegiance at a city council meeting in Sacramento to protest racism and police brutality in the United States.
The small group, lead by John Rieger from the Sacramento Chapter of Veterans for peace, knelt in solidarity with athletes who have been kneeling during the national anthem.
They knelt in the front row of the audience while a group of police cadets and Boy Scouts recited the pledge on Tuesday night.
‘We’ve served our country, we didn’t serve it to support racism,’ John Reiger told CBS Sacramento.
‘We didn’t serve it to support police brutality, these things are un-American.
The small group, lead by John Rieger from the Sacramento Chapter of Veterans for peace, knelt in solidarity with athletes who have been kneeling during the national anthem
They knelt in the front row of the audience while a group of police cadets and Boy Scouts recited the pledge on Tuesday night
‘We’ve served our country, we didn’t serve it to support racism,’ John Reiger (pictured) told CBS Sacramento
The group who participated said the act should make their opinion clear that athletes who take a knee aren’t opposing the country or the military.
He also explicitly stated that the support extends to Colin Kaepernick and any athletes who choose to protest during the anthem.
‘This is an important opportunity to let people know that as veterans we did not serve this country to defend its dark racist underbelly,’ Reiger said in an email statement to the Sacramento Bee.
‘By taking a knee during those supposedly patriotic moments we stand with the athletes, and other Americans, who want our country to live up to its better aspirations.’
He also explicitly stated that the support extends to Colin Kaepernick and any athletes who choose to protest during the anthem. Kaepernick is joined by Eli Harold and Eric Reid in 2016 kneeling during the national anthem before a game against the Buffalo Bills
On September 24 many of the Denver Broncos knelt during the anthem, much to the chagrin of President Trump who has said that players who kneel during the anthem are ‘sons of b****es’
He has also taken to Twitter to say that athletes should ‘Respect our Flag and our Country,’ and has even called for players to be fired
These demonstrations began in August 2016 when the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism.
The protest has escalated in recent weeks when President Trump took it upon himself to say that any NFL players who protest this way should be fired.
Last week he even went so far as to call those who protest ‘sons of b****es.’
He has also taken to Twitter to say that athletes should ‘Respect our Flag and our Country.’
Now the protest has spread further, from the NFL to the NBA and MLB, and even some musicians have knelt in protest.
In Texas a high school coach kicked two players off the team for taking a knee.