Unions urge police to boycott Dolphins
The Washington Post
Two police unions in South Florida are urging their members to boycott the Miami Dolphins because of continuing demonstrations against police brutality and social injustice during the national anthem.
The controversy that roiled the NFL’s 2017 season when President Donald Trump became involved continues this preseason, with no official policy yet agreed to by the NFL and the Players Association and Trump continuing to rail about the demonstrations.
Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson of the Dolphins took a knee and Robert Quinn stood with fist raised during the anthem that preceded the team’s preseason opener Thursday night.
“It’s a slap in the face,” Broward County Police Benevolent Association Vice President Rod Skirvin told The Miami Herald on Saturday. “We have a lot of police officers in the county who are ex-military. It’s not just a slap in the face to our military — past and present — but to all law enforcement officers across the country. As long as the protest continues, we will protest our attendance at the Dolphins games and continue to stay away from the NFL and its products.”
NFL players have long made the distinction that the protests have nothing to do with the military, with the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers making that case last week.
“I don’t know how many times we can say, as a player and as a group, how much we love and support and appreciate the troops, and the opportunities this country allows us,” Rodgers said. “But this is about equality and something bigger than ourselves, and bringing people together, and love and connectedness and equality and social justice, and putting a light on people who deserve to have the attention for their causes and their difficult situations that they’re in.
“You know, people have their opinion — you shouldn’t do it during the anthem, you shouldn’t do it during this — that’s fine. But let’s not take away from what the real issue is.”
In a Facebook post, the Broward County PBA urged its members to boycott a partnership that offered members discounts to games, a partnership it said was predicated on an “understanding that the Dolphins organization would require their players to stand” for the anthem.