In the shelter at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kapler said, “I have no plans to come out for the anthem in the future until I feel better about the direction of our country.”
In a blog post, Kapler questioned whether the country’s leaders were committed to representing the best interests of their people and whether the United States was truly “the land of the free and home of the brave.”
“We have not been given courage and we are not free. Local police handcuffed a mother as she begged her to go inside and rescue her children. They blocked parents trying to organize an attack to stop the shooter, including a father who learned his daughter was murdered while arguing with police. We are not free when politicians decide that the lobbying and gun industries are more important than our children’s freedom to go to school without needing bulletproof backpacks and active target practice,” Kapler wrote.
Kapler later wrote of his disappointment at what he called “the failure to fulfill the promise of our national anthem.”
“I don’t agree with the state of this country. I wish I hadn’t let my discomfort compromise my integrity. I wish I could have demonstrated what I learned from my father, that if you are unhappy with your country, let it be known through protest. The Home of the Brave should encourage this.”
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made a passionate plea for stronger crackdowns on gun violence in the United States.
Kerr declined to discuss basketball ahead of Game 4 of the Warriors series against the Dallas Mavericks, instead raising his voice when he railed against gun violence after Tuesday’s shooting.
“In the last 10 days we’ve killed elderly black people in a supermarket in Buffalo, we’ve killed Asian churchgoers in Southern California, now we’ve murdered children at school,” Kerr told reporters at the start of the press conference.
“When are we going to do something? I am tired. I’m so tired of standing up here and offering my condolences to the devastated families out there… I’m sick of the moments of silence. Enough.”