It has been three years since former NFL player Colin Kaepernick began protesting against the country, and to celebrate this anniversary, Kaepernick tweeted a video featuring his protests coupled with graphic videos of police violence.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who last played professionally at the end of the 2016 season, celebrated the three years since he started his protests that sent the NFL’s TV ratings into free fall with a tweet accusing others of trying to “erase” his “movement.”
“Today marks the three-year anniversary of the first time I protested systemic oppression,” Kaepernick tweeted. “I continue to work and stand with the people in our fight for liberation, despite those who are trying to erase the movement! The movement has always lived with the people!”
The video attached features clips of the player’s many protests during that fateful 2016 season.
But the video soon segues from scenes of his protests to scenes of others protesting the police, including relatives of men who died in police custody such as the father of Mike Brown, Alton Sterling’s mother, and Nicholas Thomas’ mother.
The video ends with graphic images of police violence and images of protests against the police.
Today marks the three year anniversary of the first time I protested systemic oppression. I continue to work and stand with the people in our fight for liberation, despite those who are trying to erase the movement! The movement has always lived with the people! ✊🏾
🎥: @REL pic.twitter.com/TAqumRfjbi
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) August 14, 2019
Kaepernick began his protests at the very start of the 2016 season saying that he was protesting for “social justice.” But he also made his protests an attack against the police in general, as opposed to a mere commentary on the few officers who sometimes step out of line.
For instance, during a practice, Kaepernick wore socks portraying the police as pigs. This is an act that turned a discussion about instances of police brutality into a blanket statement of hate for all cops regardless of their actions.
The player also noted that his protest was a stand against the United States itself.
That same year, Kaepernick said that the U.S. was never great, meaning that he stands against the whole country in general, not just against “racism.”
Finally, Kaepernick was seen supporting foreign dictators when he was seen wearing a Fidel Castro shirt, thereby celebrating a man who has murdered hundreds of thousands of political opponents over the last 50 years.
Kaepernick’s protests were far from a quiet statement about racial injustice.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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