A high school baseball team has gone viral after taking a knee during the National Anthem that played before their season-opening match.
Students of the Roosevelt High School baseball team participated in taking a knee during their match in Des Moines, Iowa, in the wake of nation-wide protests following the unwarranted death of George Floyd and others who died at the hands of the police.
Taking a knee during the Anthem has become a widely-recognized symbol of protesting police brutality and a movement inspired by Colin Kaepernick, a San Francisco 49ers quarterback, back in 2016.
Feeling that their actions would bring focus to the pressing issues, the Roosevelt student-athletes decided to bend the knee as the Anthem started playing.
Their act was also supported by the school’s activities manager who praised the students for stepping together.
“It made me feel good because our kids are in it together. We want those kids to be able to express themselves, and it was neat for us to see all of our kids do that,” Tracy Johnson said in an interview with WHO, a CNN affiliate.
Speaking up for his team was also the school’s senior, Alex Pendergast, who insisted that “no disrespect to the flag” was meant by their kneeling.
“No disrespect to the flag. It’s simply to bring attention to the issues at hand, and I think we did the right thing,” he said.
As CNN confirmed, Iowa is the first US state to allow high school sports events to resume following the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
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Replaced!