Michigan City Council Joins Colin Kaepernick’s Protests, Takes a Knee During Pledge of Allegiance

AP Lynne Sladky Fans Protest
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Warner Todd Huston
Ann Arbor, MI

Four members of a city council in Michigan emulated Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests by taking a knee during the pledge of allegiance at a recent meeting.

The four members of the Ann Arbor, Michigan, city council, walked out in front of the councilmen’s platform and took a knee as the October 19 meeting began.

Joining the controversial demonstration were self-proclaimed “progressive” Democrats, council members Chip Ward, Chuck Warpehoski, Sumi Kailasapathy, and Jason Frenzel, according to MLive.com.

Two of the council members followed their protests with comments. Councilman Warpehoski, for instance, insisted his action was an act of “attention, concern, and respect.”

Warpehoski posted a statement about his protest to his website:

I can’t speak to what is in each person’s heart, but for me to ‘take a knee’ is an act of attention, of concern, and of respect. And it is in that spirit that I take a knee at tonight’s city council meeting: out of respect for the aspiration that we be a nation ‘with liberty and justice for all,’ with full attention that we fall short of that ideal in many ways, and with humble dedication to continue to work that the promise of the pledge may be fulfilled.

Councilman Warpehoski seems to have gotten quite a lot of pushback from his initial blog post. Not long after he initially posted his message, the councilman added an “Addenda” to his message apologizing for offending people.

Addenda

Since the story on this broke I’ve been getting a lot of feedback and reflecting more on the decision.

Apology for offense

As I wrote above, my intent was not to offend of dishonor those who have sacrificed for the country, whether police, military, or civilians. Though those were my intentions, it is clear that some have felt disrespected, and for that I apologize.

Many of Warpehoski’s Twitter followers were not impressed by his protest.

A second council member also spoke out about the protest afterward.

Sumi Kailasapathy claimed her act of disrespect for the pledge of allegiance was meant as a show of support for America’s “democratic values.”

“For me,” Kailasapathy said, “taking a knee is also showing solidarity with the group of people who have been doing this at the national level.”

Kailasapathy avoided mentioning her protest on her Twitter account, but other Twitter users were not so disposed to ignore her actions.

Both councilmen Jason Frenzel and Chip Smith also ignored the protests on their Twitter feeds.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

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