Union Asks Cops to Boycott Dolphins Games

They want team to force players to stand for anthem
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 19, 2016 3:50 AM CDT
Union Asks Cops to Boycott Dolphins Games
Paulette Bilsky, of Northeast Harbor, Maine makes her point in the parking lot of Gillette Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, in Foxborough, Mass.   (AP Photo/Stew Milne)

The Miami Dolphins should get private security instead of cops to protect them if players won't stand up for the national anthem, according to the local president of a police union. Jeff Bell, president of the International Union of Police Associations, says the chapter has asked police and the Broward County sheriff's office to stop providing security for Dolphins games, USA Today reports. Before Sunday's game against the Patriots, three Dolphins knelt in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, although Jelani Jenkins, who knelt for the anthem last week, stood up this time around.

Bell says the team should force players to stand. "I respect their right to have freedom of speech. However, in certain organizations and certain jobs you give up that right of your freedom of speech" while you do that job, he tells the Miami Herald. Miami-Dade police also provide security for Dolphins games. In a statement, they said the security of visitors and residents is their main concern and they will continue to honor their contract. NBC Bay Area reports that another four 49ers showed solidarity with Kaepernick's protest on Sunday, raising their fists while the anthem played and Kaepernick and Eric Reid knelt before their game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte. (More Miami Dolphins stories.)

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