The US Navy says it is investigating after a video resurfaced of military dogs attacking a stand-in wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey during a demonstration event at the Navy Seals Museum in Florida last year.
The clip, captioned ‘Colin Kaepernick stand-in Josh gets attacked by 5 Navy SEAL dogs for not standing during the National Anthem at a Navy SEAL Museum fundraiser’, shows a man wearing a red jersey with ‘Kaepernick 7’ on the back being mauled by four dogs as part of a show for visitors to the museum at Fort Pierce in January of 2019.
Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce used “Colin Kaepernick stand-in” for K-9 demonstration at fundraiser last year #BecauseFloridahttps://t.co/COHFCeJ3GNpic.twitter.com/EpcELHxrSe
A second clip shows the same man being taking down and restrained as he is heard saying, “Oh man, now I’ll stand”, and is again accompanied by enthusiastic commentary as onlookers laugh and film the scene.
In another video, after “Navy SEALs and Navy SEAL dogs take down Colin Kaepernick for not standing during National Anthem,” he moans something like, “Oh man, I will stand” #BecauseFloridahttps://t.co/uZ3ervZguBpic.twitter.com/6vi1uCGIt5
The videos were initially shared on Instagram but were widely circulated again over the weekend on Twitter, causing the official Navy Seals account to issue a statement vowing it would investigate the incident.
“The inherent message of this video is completely inconsistent with the values and ethos of Naval Special Warfare and the US Navy,” the statement read.
“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.”
UPDATE: @us_navyseals statement says, “The inherent message of this video is completely inconsistent with the values and ethos of Naval Special Warfare and the U.S. Navy… There were no active duty Navy personnel or equipment involved with this independent organization’s event.” pic.twitter.com/iV9Tt0bNHV
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick became a controversial figure in the US in 2016 when he began to ‘take a knee’ during the playing of the national anthem, protesting against racial injustice in the country.
The initiative was picked up by fellow NFL players and others across numerous sports, and has been reignited following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis in May.
Kaepernick, 32, has been without a team since opting out of his contract with the 49ers in March of 2017, but has since sued the NFL over alleged collusion among owners not to sign him.
He reached a settlement with the league last year and has consistently been mooted to make a comeback, although is yet to find a team.
Despite being currently sidelined, Kaepernick became the face of a Nike campaign following his ‘Take a Knee’ initiative and is said to earn millions of dollars a year through his contract with the sportswear giants as well as other endorsements.
