An Illinois youth football team consisting of children eight years of age or younger kneeled during the national anthem on Sunday to protest the decision to acquit a St. Louis police officer who killed a black man.
Some of the kids on the Junior Comanches football team in Belleville, Illinois asked their coach, Orlando Gooden, who played football at Mizzou, why there were riots occurring in St. Louis.
“One of the kids asked me if I saw (people) protesting and rioting in St. Louis. I said ‘yes’; I said, ‘Do you know why they are doing it?’” Gooden told FOX 2 St. Louis.
Gooden said the boy replied, “Because black people are getting killed and nobody’s going to jail.”
“I felt like it was a good teaching moment for me to circle the team and have a meeting,” said the coach.
Gooden told FOX 2 that he then went on to connect the decision to acquit Officer Jason Stockley for the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith with other situations involving black victims around the country. He then told them about Colin Kaepernick’s protest of America and police officers by refusing to stand for the National Anthem.
“One of the kids asked, ‘Can we do that?’ I said, ‘As long as we know why we’re doing it, I don’t have a problem with any of it.'”
The football team then staged their own Kaepernick-style protest in response to the St. Louis verdict by kneeling during the anthem. They also turned their backs toward the flag, although Gooden claims that was unintentional.
FOX 2 St. Louis notes that Gooden defended himself and the actions of his team (H/T: Miami Herald)
“I know some of the people talk and speak as if I told the kids to turn around and that. I didn’t,” Gooden said. “They brought up the subject and led the discussion. I feel like once a child shows interest in a topic, you have to talk to them and teach them what you can.”
“I told them kneeling is a show of respect, not for those who broke boundaries — I support only peaceful protest — but for the innocent lives that have been touched by injustice.”
Gooden claims all of the parents agreed to the protest and said he doesn’t plan on having the team kneel again.
Here’s more about the protest: (H/T: The Blaze)
There are a couple of problems here. For starters, the evidence is unclear if the St. Louis police officer, Jason Stockley, was justified or not in the shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith. Without proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant should be rightfully acquitted. This is justice, not injustice.
Secondly, while Gooden tries to shift the burden of the decision on the kids, it’s clear that he led them to see Kaepernick’s protest of the country as a positive response to a perceived injustice. They might have asked if they could do it, but he clearly deliberately planted the idea.