USHERING IN REIGN OF SEIZER
Colin jail visit a knee to groin
Former NFL star Colin Kaepernick, who once showed his disdain for cops by wearing game socks depicting police as pigs, was allowed to visit inmates at Rikers Island Tuesday — leaving the guards furious.
The de Blasio administration welcomed the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback to the city lockup, where he talked in part about his controversial decision to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
“That’s crazy to me to have a person like Colin Kaepernick in prison talking about police brutality,” said an officer who attended the event. “It was insulting for me to be there.”
Correction-union officials said the visit by Kaepernick — who has been slammed as disre- spectful to America by President Trump — endangered guards by emboldening criminals who see themselves as victims of a corrupt criminal-justice system.
“The inmates see a guy like this coming in, it’s almost like the administration is condoning being anti-law enforcement,” said Patrick Ferraiuolo, president of the Correction Captains Association. “His presence alone could incite these guys.”
Kaepernick attended breakfast in the warden’s office before taking questions in two 45-minute sessions with adult and juvenile inmates.
“They were basic questions, like what’s it like to play in the NFL,” said one source. “Then they asked him about taking a knee . . . He said he was doing it to call attention to police brutality.”
In the second session, Kaepernick “came out of the gate with the police brutality . . . and he said the NFL was keeping him out of the game for speaking out,” a source said.
Though no violence was reported, Elias Husamudeen, president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, feared the controversial player’s presence would prompt “inmates to continue to attack correction officers.” He laid blame for the move on the mayor.
“Once again, correction officers find themselves caught in Mayor de Blasio’s political con game,” Husamudeen said.
City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips defended the visit, saying: “This is a guy using his celebrity to help young adults turn their lives around . . . He should be applauded.”