Tammy Duckworth responds after the NFL approved a measure 2 days ago which outlaws players from kneeling during the national anthem. Players will now be required to stand if they are on the field or stay in the locker room during the anthem if they do not wish to stand. And for teams whose players don’t comply with the measure, they will face fines.
Duckworth lost both her legs when a rocket-propelled grenade shot down the helicopter she was piloting over Iraq in 2004.
One day, our nation’s flag will drape my coffin, just as it did my Dad’s and will my husband’s and brother’s. I will always stand on these legs for the flag and anthem, but it was ALSO my honor to defend people’s right to free speech… pic.twitter.com/oYVARtH8o6
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) May 25, 2018
… including those who choose to #TakeAKnee to express outrage at the glaring disparity in how Americans of different races are treated
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) May 25, 2018
“One day, our nation’s flag will drape my coffin, just as it did my Dad’s and will my husband’s and brother’s,” Duckworth, a veteran who lost both of her legs in the Iraq War, tweeted Friday along with a photo of her prosthetic legs.
“I will always stand on these legs for the flag and anthem, but it was ALSO my honor to defend people’s right to free speech including those who choose to #TakeAKnee to express outrage at the glaring disparity in how Americans of different races are treated.”
Duckworth on new NFL anthem policy: I fought to defend the right to take a knee in protest https://t.co/eAaxKF9oOZ pic.twitter.com/HjC0ejo2lV
— The Hill (@thehill) May 25, 2018
Senator Duckworth has earned the right to say this.
