Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

The second San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick announced he was protesting police brutality by not standing up during the national anthem, he was hit with plenty of criticisms, one being that the 28-year-old was disrespecting the nation’s troops and veterans — a notion Kaepernick denied from the jump.

“I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country,” he said Sunday. “I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone.” 

But, he added, “People are dying in vain because this country isn’t holding their end of the bargain up, as far as giving freedom and justice, liberty to everybody.”

Well, now veterans have banded together to speak for themselves — and it seems they stand with Kaepernick on his right to protest. On Tuesday, the hashtag #VeteransForKaepernick started trending with current and past soldiers taking to social media to express that standing up to oppression isn’t anti-military.

Folks also joked about how conservatives were responding to veterans, shutting them down:

In the end, MSNBC’s Joy Reid summed it up perfectly.

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Twitter

RELATED LINKS:

Come Through! QB Colin Kaepernick On Protesting the National Anthem: ‘There Are Bodies in the Street’

These WNBA Teams Have Been Fined For Their Social Activism

‘Enough Is Enough:’ NBA Stars Give Powerful Black Lives Matter Speech At ESPY Awards

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.