Terence Crutcher was shot and killed by Tulsa police on September 16. Video has since emerged that shows he had his hands in the air, and police have confirmed he was unarmed.
Tragically, this isn’t the first, second or third time this has happened in 2016, and it is incidents like this that have sparked NFL players like Colin Kaepernick, Brandon Marshall and others to protest by kneeling during the national anthem.
Tuesday, Marshall spoke out about the shooting.
.@BMarshh54 on Terence Crutcher: pic.twitter.com/ItWHHWsoDg
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) September 20, 2016
Marshall and Kaepernick, among others, are trying to engage with police about the continued police violence and brutality towards people of color in America.
The players who have chosen to kneel or put a fist in the air as a way to protest this violence have been roundly criticized for “disgracing the flag,” or “disrespecting the military.”
However, the same people who decry what the NFL protesters are doing have been conspicuously quiet in regards to shootings like the one we saw this past week with Crutcher. This must change.
The real issue — the reason players are protesting — is that people are unnecessarily being killed by the very same people who are sworn to protect and serve.