(Reuters) – The U.S. Navy command in charge of the elite SEAL program is investigating two videos showing military dogs attacking a man wearing a Colin Kaepernick football jersey during a museum demonstration in Florida.
The Naval Special Warfare Command posted on its official Twitter account on Sunday that it did not think any active-duty Navy personnel or equipment were involved in the incident, which took place last year at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida. The SEALs are the Navy’s special operations force
The videos gained widespread attention online this weekend. The museum did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The inherent message of this video is completely inconsistent with the values and ethos of Naval Special Warfare and the U.S. Navy,” the statement on Twitter said.
One of the videos shows four trained dogs attacking a man wearing protective bulky protective gear with a Kaepernick jersey over it. A small crowd of tourists looks on, taking photos and videos.
The second video shows the same man with the jersey on with one dog still attacking him until it is called off. Two men then approach the man with rifles trained on him, as he moans, rolls over and says “I’ll stand” as the crowd chuckles.
Kaepernick is a former National Football League quarterback whose kneeling protests during the national anthem sparked debate and became a symbol of the fight against racial injustice. He filed a grievance against the NFL in 2017, claiming collusion as no teams signed him after he parted ways with the San Francisco 49ers. He and the NFL settled in 2019.
Kaepernick’s signature gesture has gained more acceptance after the global protests for racial equality following the May 25 killing of African American George Floyd while he was in the custody of Minneapolis police.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
