By Gabriella Muñoz - The Washington Times - Wednesday, September 5, 2018

The National Fraternal Order of Police touted sacrifices made by police late Tuesday night, in response to Nike’s controversial Colin Kaepernick cover.

“Since 2016, 381 officers have been killed in the line of duty,” the order’s president, Chuck Canterbury, said in a statement, “They believed in something and sacrificed everything, as did the families they left behind. All of the men and women in law enforcement believe in something and are prepared to sacrifice everything.”

Mr. Canterbury defended Nike’s right to back Mr. Kaepernick, and said it would not spearhead a boycott of the company.

“Our members and for that matter, any American citizen, understands when the law enforcement profession is being insulted — we have no doubt they will make their purchases with that insult in mind,” he wrote.

Mr. Kaepernick was one of the athletes chosen to be the face of Nike’s 30th anniversary of their “Just Do It” campaign.

The former NFL player was a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He made national headlines in 2016 after kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality.

After no team signed Mr. Kaepernick in the season following the protest, he filed a lawsuit accusing the league of colluding against him.

Mr. Canterbury argued that in the long run, Nike’s campaign will lose its popularity, but law enforcement will be honored.

“Ultimately, this ad campaign will end and our nation will no longer associate ’sacrifice’ and ’sneakers,’ ” he said, “Instead, we will once against associate ’sacrifice’ with our fellow Americans in our military and police departments who stand in harm’s way to protect the rest of us and our right to express ourselves.”

• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.

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