Navy SEALs Severs Ties With Museum Over Disrespectful Colin Kaepernick Video
A Navy SEALs’ commander says his unit will suspend all ties and support of the National Navy SEAL Museum, a nonprofit organization not operated by the military, after videos surfaced of a group of camaplodge wearing men are seen laughing as one of them wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey is attacked by several dogs.
“Each and every one of us serves to protect our fellow Americans - ALL Americans. Even the perception that our commitment to serving the men and women of this nation is applied unevenly is destructive,” Rear Admiral Collin Green wrote in an email to his forces on Monday evening (August 3), according to the Associated Press.
He added: “We will revisit our relationship with the Museum when I am convinced that they have made the necessary changes to ensure this type of behavior does not happen again.”
Adm. Green also wanted to make clear that while the SEALs have previously supported the museum, they aren’t responsible for any decision making coming from the institution.
“While the museum is an independent non-profit organization and the participants were contracted employees from outside the DoD, in many ways, these facts are irrelevant. We have been inextricably linked to this organization that represents our history,” he said. “We may not have contributed to the misperception in this case, but we suffer from it and will not allow it to continue.”
The letter comes a day after a group of videos surfaced on social media from a 2019 event at the Fort Pierce Florida-based museum.
In one of the videos, men wearing camouflage, tactical gear and holding guns order four dogs to attack another man wearing protective equipment and a Kaepernick San Francisco 49ers jersey. Another video shows the dog biting the man in the jersey as he lays on the ground.
A man with a rifle then approaches him and demands he turn over on his stomach. The man in the jersey subsequently replies, “Oh, man, I will stand” – a joke aimed at Kaep’s kneeling protest, which brought national attention to racial injustice and police brutality.
In a tweet posted to Twitter on Sunday, the Naval Special Warfare Command condemned the video: “We are investigating the matter fully and initial indications are that there were no active-duty Navy personnel or equipment involved with this independent organization’s event.”
Watch both viral videos below.
