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The national spokesman for Law Enforcement Today blasted the NFL in a Friday op-ed over the league’s increasing patronization of the Black Lives Matter movement after shunning a request from the Dallas Cowboys in 2016 to honor five slain police officers who were ambushed while protecting BLM demonstrators.
“You are no longer the game that I grew up with and learned to love, spending all of our Sundays together. Later on, we added Mondays and Thursdays to our relationship. But like all good things, this too must come to an end,” Kyle S. Reyes wrote, in conjunction with other LET writers.
“It didn’t have to be this way. But we could see the cracks in this relationship starting to develop back in 2016. You remember that, don’t you? We do,” he continued. “You see, in July of 2016, five of our brothers were killed in Dallas. You remember that, don’t you?”
Six other officers were wounded in the ambush-style attack.
Reports noted at the time that the shooter, Micah Xavier Johnson, a black U.S. Army veteran who had done a combat tour in Afghanistan, was upset with white people and wanted to kill white police officers.
“The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter. He said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people,” Dallas police Chief David O.Brown said following a stand-off with Johnson in which he was killed by a bomb-carrying robot.
“The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” Johnson added.
In response to the ambush, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and team officials petitioned the NFL to allow players to wear a decal on their helmets during the 2017 pre-season.
However, the league refused the request, citing its uniform rules.
NFL won’t allow Dallas Cowboys to honor Dallas PD with helmet sticker https://t.co/Pe4rWiJvTx pic.twitter.com/9AaFtT9oKp
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) August 11, 2016
“The NFL had an opportunity to be leaders and advocates for change in law enforcement,” said Sgt. Demetrick Pennie, president of the Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation, in an interview with TMZ Sports a month after the murders.
“These are our friends and our loved ones…it hurts to not have the NFL fully support us.” Pennie continued.
At the time, the NFL’s decision was ripped by conservative talk show host Mark Levin, Reyes noted.
“Let me tell you why the NFL won’t do this. Anybody have a guess? I have a big guess: Because they don’t want any trouble from the leftists. From the Black Lives Matter crowd,” Levin reportedly said, according to Reyes.
Dallas Morning News sports opinion columnist Tim Cowlishaw backed the NFL.
“It’s an unpopular opinion (not my first) but I think the NFL made the right call. There’s a way to honor these men without a decal on the helmet. If you allow that, do you allow decals saying Black Lives Matter? Pro Life? Pro Choice? Repeal Obamacare? John 3:16? Where does it end?” he said. “I think there’s a place for protest and there’s a place to honor victims in different ways. I understand the NFL’s reluctance to open this door.”
NFL gets stuff wrong but got this right. Other ways to honor them without opening this political door. https://t.co/bRfpLPFeyG
— Tim Cowlishaw (@TimCowlishaw) August 11, 2016
Around the time of the murder of the five officers, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had begun kneeling during the playing of the national anthem, as a means of drawing attention to an alleged rash of police killings of unarmed black people.
And the Black Lives Matter movement had already begun, having been founded in 2013 following the death of Trayvon Martin.
“Two years ago, the owners took a stand and said that players were no longer allowed to kneel during the anthem and any who did would be fined. That was a good step,” Reyes wrote.
The league would eventually back down, however, after the player’s union filed a grievance.
And now, as the 2020 season approaches, the NFL has fully embraced the BLM movement, and “is also considering listing the names of victims on uniforms through decals on helmets or patches on jerseys,” ESPN reported, adding that the song, “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing,” traditionally considered the ‘Black national anthem,’ will be played before every Week 1 NFL game.
So the NFL will play the black national anthem prior to Week 1 games? What happened to one nation? One people? A UNITED states bound by our love of country and not divided into race?
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) July 3, 2020
Who's going to tell BLM & .@nfl that "Lift Ev'ry Voice" was written to commemorate the white man who freed the slaves? Presented in song by 500 black children on Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1900; became known as the "Black National Anthem" in honor of Abe. God bless USA. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/HQnCroEiQU
— Montgomery Granger (@mjgranger1) July 3, 2020
How many national anthems do we have??
Is there an Hispanic national anthem?
An Asian-American national anthem?
This is asinine. We are ONE America. E Pluribus Unum. https://t.co/nv0djWREnH
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 3, 2020
“NFL, there is only one national anthem—The Star-Spangled Banner. There is no Hispanic national anthem. There is no native American national anthem. And no, there is no black national anthem,” Reyes writes.
“Yet, you are going to cower to the mob and literally flip the virtual middle finger to a large part of your audience by playing to Black Lives Matter, an organization run by Marxists who arguably have the goal of overthrowing the form of government—capitalism—that allows you to make the gazillions of dollars that you do every year,” he continued.
“Where do we go with all of this? How do we not recognize the hypocrisy and the racism at the core of this ludicrous attempt to call out racism?”
Reyes concludes: “So, NFL, it’s been a wonderful ride. But with that said, you have shown where you stand on America and the large percentage of fans who love[d] your game. I have officially watched my last NFL game, unless you rethink your priorities and fly straight.”
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Jon is a staff writer for BizPac Review with 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.
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