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Colin Kaepernick speaks out about George Floyd's death, riots: 'We have the right to fight back'

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is speaking out about the killing of George Floyd, who died on Monday after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for seven minutes while arresting him. The incident was caught on video and has sparked several days of protests and riots in Minneapolis as well as nationwide outrage.

Numerous athletes have shared their feelings about Floyd’s death, and now Kaepernick has weighed in.

“When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction.

The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears because your violence has brought this resistance.

We have the right to fight back!

Rest in Power George Floyd”

Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem in 2016, specifically to protest police brutality against black people and people of color — the same police brutality that killed Floyd. After opting out of his contract at the end of the 2016 season, Kaepernick was unable to find a job in the NFL and hasn’t played a single professional football game since. Kaepernick filed a grievance accusing the NFL of collusion in 2017, since it appeared he’d been blackballed, and he reached a financial settlement with the league in 2019 for an undisclosed sum.

Kaepernick’s silent protest inspired numerous others around the NFL to do the same, and it continues to inspire people today. The image of him kneeling has been all over social media, juxtaposed with a still image of a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck. Many prominent athletes, including LeBron James, have posted or retweeted the image, and Kaepernick even included it in an Instagram story.

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