WATCH: Trooper Refuses To Kneel To BLM Activists: I Only Kneel To God

During a Black Lives Matter protest on Sunday, Georgia State Trooper O’Neal Saddler refused to kneel before demonstrators, telling the activists he only kneels “for one person,” referring to God.

“If I didn’t have any respect, I wouldn’t [be here],” Saddler told the protesters, according to The Blaze. “I was supposed to be out of town this weekend with my wife. I took off today, this weekend, but I’m out here to make sure y’all are safe.”

“Don’t go there with respect, okay? I have much respect, but I only kneel for one person,” the state trooper continued.

“And that’s God,” one of the demonstrators said. “God,” Saddler confirmed.

It’s unclear what ultimately followed the powerful moment, though some of the protesters can be heard thanking the trooper and acknowledging his “respect” before Saddler starts to move away from the group.

Saddler didn’t kneel and seemed to gain the respect of some of the protesters. However, other officers who have knelt before activists have been met with mixed reactions, including criticism that it’s a “PR stunt.”

“When a high-ranking Los Angeles Police Department commander kneeled with protesters outside of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s house earlier this week, it appeared to be a moment of solidarity,” ABC News reported. “However, many protesters and organizers say they don’t want police officers to kneel, with some calling it a ‘PR stunt’ that doesn’t contribute to the movement.”

“We don’t want anybody to take a knee, a knee doesn’t help me heal the wounds. They shot me seven times on Saturday,” said Black Lives Matter organizer and actor Kendrick Sampson. “It does not help my boy who has two broken bones in his skull right now because they aimed a cannon at his head with rubber bullets.”

Outside of officers, white protesters have knelt before black protesters and asked for forgiveness for their ancestors’ past racial sins.

On Saturday in North Carolina, for example, white police officers and protesters washed the feet of black community leaders, who organized the protest concerning the death of George Floyd, as they asked for forgiveness.

TMZ reported that the “moving scene” from Saturday captured “a handful of white folks (who) came together to clean the feet of black religious leaders, while offering a prayer repenting for the sins inflicted on black people at large.”

Floyd, who is black, died after a police officer had his knee on the 46-year-old’s neck for over eight minutes during an arrest, as shown in viral video footage. Since the incident, all four officers involved in the arrest have been fired, investigations from the FBI and state law enforcement have been opened, and the officer at the center of the incident was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder The three other officers involved have since been charged, as well.

WATCH:

This is Georgia State Trooper O’Neal Saddler.

He was asked to kneel today, and this was his response.

God Bless him! 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/DZOGg6qnFn

— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) June 7, 2020

Related: WATCH: White Cops, Civilians Wash Feet Of Black Organizers, Ask For Forgiveness

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