Protesting during the national anthem came to Fort Lewis College when four FLC football players knelt during the anthem prior to a game against South Dakota School of Mines and Technology on Saturday at Ray Dennison Memorial Field in Durango.
Defensive backs Dominic Cochrane, Tyrell Thomas and Christian Woo, and wide receiver Elijah Huff knelt during the national anthem, with many of the FLC players and coaches surrounding them in support. After the anthem, several players and even some coaches raised their firsts in the air.
Huff said the four players knelt in hope of bringing attention to social injustices people face around the country, including Durango.
“Today’s protest was to demonstrate our support against a few different social injustices,” Huff said in a message to The Durango Herald. “These three issues (were): police brutality, school push out, and sexual predators. ... Those types of actions must be nonexistent in our society and we have to push for that. As athletes we wanted to use our platform to voice these issues. Also, to show that this form of protest is capable of bringing awareness to multiple issues.
“Durango is a wonderful place where we are given an opportunity to get our education. However, we refuse to forget the injustices that affect us and others both here in Durango and everywhere else. Our hopes are to get those here in Durango to sit down and talk about these issues and understand why we kneel.”
FLC head coach Joe Morris said he was unaware of the players’ decision to kneel but said he supported their decision to protest peacefully.
“I didn’t know. I wasn’t aware of it. But you know me, everybody has their own political views,” Morris said. “We all respect the flag, even our guys who were kneeling. They respect our military and love what they do for us. If they want to make a statement about social injustice, I have no problem with that as long as everybody knows our guys do appreciate the military and the flag.”
Defensive back Donnel Pleasant III stood directly behind Huff and Thomas in a show of support for his teammates. Quarterback Bo Coleman put one hand on Huff’s shoulder while covering his heart with the other.
“It was something I really felt we needed to do and we did it,” Pleasant said. “It was a little thing that happened at the beginning of the game and that’s that.”
Pleasant added that he supports the Skyhawks’ decision to kneel and reiterated the protest from Cochrane, Huff, Thomas and Woo was about social injustices and wasn’t about the military or the flag.
“We do respect the flag and military. My dad was in the military,” said Pleasant, who’s father served in the Navy. “It meant no offense to the people in the military; it was about injustice. We stood up for that.”
The four Skyhawks were not the only protesters during the anthem. A group of students also knelt during the anthem, some with fists raised in the air, on the FLC sideline near the south end zone.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
