Liberal journalists are so desperate in their attempts to exonerate Colin Kaepernick of anti-Americanism that one of them is now using the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to do just that. USA Today Race and Inequality Editor Mike Freeman has a new column out today tying a single Capitol rioter to hypocrites who demonized Colin Kaepernick for disrespecting the flag in 2016.
The news that one of the Jan. 6 rioters in Washington attacked a police officer with a flagpole led Freeman to flashbacks of Kaepernick and those who opposed his attack on patriotism. It was Kaepernick who ramped up social justice activism in sports by kneeling to protest racial inequality and “systemic racism” during NFL pregame renditions of the national anthem:
“The flagpole moment was in many ways definitive proof that all of the objections to Kaepernick's protests were never about the actual protests. It was always about not wanting Kaepernick to bring attention to systemic issues in law enforcement.”
The person who attacked police with a flagpole deserves prosecution. But without direct evidence that this knucklehead had opposed Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem and his anti-police rhetoric, that’s assuming a lot by Freeman. It’s also unfair to declare the actions of one person indicative of a larger group opposing Kaepernick, who through his inflammatory rhetoric, implicated that all police officers engage in brutality and oppression.
Declaring the flagpole attacker demonstrates “definitive proof” that all objections to Kaepernick’s protests ring hollow is a big, unsubstantiated mouthful. Stepping even deeper into his false premise about Kaepernick opponents, Freeman extrapolated that:
“His critics just never wanted him to talk race. They just wanted him to shut up and play. Everything else about him hating the police and the flag was just performative art.”
According to Freeman, Kaepernick’s apologists remember exactly how he was portrayed by President Donald Trump and “the right wing media ecosystem. Police and the American flag were central aspects to make him seem un-American."
There was much more than disrespecting the flag that Kaepernick did to earn his un-American reputation. Tweeting from Ghana on July 4, 2017 that there is no independence in America, calling cops “pigs’’ and “slave patrol,” indicating approval of the communist Cuban dictator Fidel Castro (see photo of him wearing Castro shirt above), Kaepernick signed, sealed and delivered his reputation as an America hater.
Freeman had heard mostly crickets instead of juxtaposition of his thoughts on Kaepernick “versus images from the riots.” Until comedian Dave Chappelle released a video Friday announcing his comeback on Netflix, that is. Chappelle also used the video to virtue signal to Kaepernick and portray his opponents as hypocrites exposed by the flagpole attacker.:
“Watch the tapes. Watch that crowd that told Colin Kaepernick he can’t kneel during a football game try to beat a police officer to death with an American flag.”
Freeman says Chappelle explained it perfectly. “The good news is Chappelle will be there to put it all in perspective. Like he always does.”
