Trump tweets fuel US anthem protests
A WAVE of protests swept across the National Football League on Sunday as President Donald Trump escalated his feud with players who kneel during the US national anthem to draw attention to racial injustice.
Trump ignited a firestorm of criticism after comments on Friday in which he described NFL players who chose to kneel through renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner as sons of bitches who should be fired.
The US leader reiterated those remarks in an early morning tweet, urging fans to boycott the NFL as long as the protests continued.
“If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!” Trump wrote.
Yet players throughout America’s most popular sport took a defiant stance just hours later, kneeling, linking arms or raising clenched fists during the anthem.
More than 150 players could be seen kneeling or sitting in the 14 games that took place on Sunday, easily the largest such demonstration since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first began protesting last year.
One of the biggest protests took place in the nation’s capital, where almost the entire lineup of the Oakland Raiders team sat on their bench ahead of their game with the Washington Redskins.
A day of demonstrations began at the London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens at Wembley Stadium, where a large number of players from both teams knelt.
In Nashville, neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Tennessee Titans took to the field to observe the national anthem.
“We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of this colour in this country,” Seattle players said in a statement just prior to kickoff.
In Foxborough, about 15 members of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots took a knee during the anthem.
Star quarterback Tom Brady stood but linked arms with his teammates. Reports said protests were greeted with scattered boos as some chanted “Stand up!” – AFP