A foundation founded by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is supporting hammer thrower Gwen Berry after the athlete snubbed the U.S. flag and the national anthem during the Olympic trials Saturday.
“We applaud Ms. Berry on her bravery to stand up against systemic racism,” the Know Your Rights Camp tweeted Monday.
As highlighted by The Daily Wire, Berry qualified to represent the United States at the Olympics on Saturday, placing third in the hammer throw trials. While on stage receiving her medal, Berry turned her back to the flag and held up a T-shirt that read “Activist Athlete” when the anthem started playing.
Citing a Newsweek post, the camp boosted Berry’s theory that she was “set-up” when the anthem played as she was on the podium for her third-place finish.
“Over the weekend during the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, hammer thrower Gwen Berry turned away from the American flag at the medal podium while the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ was playing,” the group posted. “According to a meet representative, the anthem is scheduled to play at 5:20 pm but it played at 5:25 pm when the athletes were on the podium. ‘I feel like it was a set-up, and they did it on purpose,’ she said, according to the AP. ‘I was pissed, to be honest,’ she added.”
The Twitter thread continued: “But Berry said: ‘They said they were going to play it before we walked out, then they played it when we were out there.’ Berry draped a tee-shirt on her head that said ‘Activist Athlete’. ‘The anthem doesn’t speak for me. It never has,’ she said. ‘I’m here to represent those … who died due to systemic racism,’ she said. ‘That’s the important part. That’s why I’m going. That’s why I’m here today.'”
“We applaud Ms. Berry on her bravery to stand up against systemic racism,” Know Your Rights Camp closed the thread.
According to a meet representative, the anthem is scheduled to play at 5:20 pm but it played at 5:25 pm when the athletes were on the podium. "I feel like it was a set-up, and they did it on purpose," she said, according to the AP. "I was pissed, to be honest," she added. pic.twitter.com/XTV4rF0yNR
— Know Your Rights Camp (@yourrightscamp) June 28, 2021
"I'm here to represent those … who died due to systemic racism," she said. "That's the important part. That's why I'm going. That's why I'm here today."
We applaud Ms. Berry on her bravery to stand up against systemic racism.
Cited from https://t.co/p7Uo2l8iLR pic.twitter.com/WO45g7iZSJ
— Know Your Rights Camp (@yourrightscamp) June 28, 2021
In 2016, then-San Francisco 49er Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem before games, claiming murderous systemic racism against blacks, The Daily Wire reported at the time:
The National Football League’s Colin Kaepernick has not stood for the playing of the national anthem at his past three preseason games because, according to him, America “oppresses black people and people of color” and there are dead “bodies in the street” who were “murdered” by cops. The quarterback also believes that “white supremacy” is the “standard” American practice.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” the quarterback told Steve Wyche of NFL Media. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
The 49ers QB continued: “This is not something that I am going to run by anybody,” he said. “I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. . . . If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right.”
Related: Anthem-Snubbing Gwen Berry Sponsored By Puma, Defund The Police Advocates