Rhode Island town council votes to stop buying Nike products over Colin Kaepernick campaign

Just a few days after a Louisiana mayor backtracked on his vow to stop using city money on Nike products after facing nationwide ridicule, a Rhode Island town is taking its own stance against the sportswear brand’s Colin Kaepernick campaign.

As the Providence Journal reports, the North Smithfield, R.I., town council passed a nonbinding resolution Monday asking town departments to boycott Nike over its support of Kaepernick. The quarterback has been snubbed by the NFL after he began taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence against people of color.

Kaepernick remains without a team, and Nike showed solidarity with his cause by casting him as the star of its latest campaign. The ads have sparked controversy, with President Trump among the critics slamming Nike’s choice of brand ambassador. Despite some conservatives destroying their own Nike merchandise, the brand has enjoyed a spike in sales and even red-carpet support from Black-ish actress Jenifer Lewis, who wore head-to-toe Nike at the 2018 Emmys.

Supporters of Kaepernick have insisted that kneeling is a protest against police brutality, not the national anthem. But in his comments during Monday’s meeting, North Smithfield town council president — and former state trooper — John Beauregard said that Kaepernick made “derogatory comments about police” and allegedly said Nike painted police as racist.

Referring to the campaign that credits Kaepernick with “sacrificing everything,” he said it is the police officers who have died in the line of duty who have truly done that.

“This is not about anyone taking a knee,” he said. “You might be surprised, but I support their right [to protest]. Just because I do not believe in his cause does not mean I do not believe in his rights.”

The resolution — which is more of a symbolic request rather than an enforceable policy — had plenty of critics. The ACLU wrote a letter advising “just don’t do it,” and meeting attendee Erin Huntley said the council should “refuse to make government resolutions based on the ideology of intolerance.”

Although his resolution ultimately passed, Beauregard may find himself following the example of Kenner, La., Mayor Ben Zahn, whose Nike ban was scrapped after he was accused of being divisive. The North Smithfield move has already been criticized, with the local ACLU chapter calling it “inflammatory.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Serena Williams’s daughter Olympia rocks Nike tutu

• ‘Racist’ elementary school principal under fire for calling Colin Kaepernick an ‘anti-American thug’

• Louisiana teacher’s racist Colin Kaepernick rant goes viral: ‘Stop acting like animals’

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