We’ve heard arguments that NFL protesters shouldn’t kneel for the anthem. We’ve heard people say that they’re not right to protest the anthem. Heck, we’ve even heard someone say that they should “get those SOB’s off the field!” What we haven’t heard much of, is that those players are breaking the law by protesting the anthem. That is, until now.
Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama, is arguing that NFL players who protest the anthem are breaking the law. In an interview with TIME, Moore cited a section of U.S code which governs conduct during the anthem. It’s that section, that he says, the players are violating.
Moore said, “It’s against the law, you know that? It was a act of Congress that every man stand and put their hand over their heart. That’s the law.”
President Trump played a large role in bringing the anthem debate to the center-stage of public debate, while speaking at a rally in Alabama for Roy Moore. At that rally, Trump lashed out at protesting players. The president called them “SOB’s” and said he wished that their team owners would fire them.
Roy Moore falls right-in with that line of thinking.
“I back the President in upholding respect for the patriotism for our country, on two grounds,” he said. “One, it’s respect for the law. If we don’t respect the law, what kind of country are we going to have? Two, it’s respect for those who have fallen and given the ultimate sacrifice. I’m surprised that no one brought this up.”
Moore emphasized that it’s, “the rule of law.”
“If they didn’t have it in there, it would just be tradition. But this is law,” he said. “If we disobey this, what else are we going to disobey?”
Moore could be more right than he knows. The players who have protested the anthem have some of the most extensive criminal histories in the NFL.