NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – NFL free agent Colin Kaepernick appeared to slam the United States over its recent strike on Iran’s top military leader, saying the nation has a long history of “terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people.”
The tweets Saturday came two days after the U.S. killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force and mastermind of its regional security strategy, in a drone strike.
Kaepernick appeared to be addressing the strike in two tweets sent out Saturday afternoon.
The first tweet reads: “There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism.”
A minute later he tweeted: “America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad. America militarism is the weapon wielded by American imperialism, to enforce its policing and plundering of the non-white world.”
Kaepernick is best known for his on-the-field National Anthem protests of police-involved shootings involving African-American and Latino people.
“Racialized oppression and dehumanization is woven into the very fabric of our nation,” Kaepernick said in a speech at Amnesty International last year. “The effects of which can be seen in the lawful lynching of black and brown people by the police, and the mass incarceration of black and brown lives in the prison industrial complex.”
Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force and mastermind of its regional security strategy, was killed early Friday near the Baghdad international airport along with senior Iraqi militants in an airstrike ordered by Trump. The attack has caused regional tensions to soar and tested the U.S. alliance with Iraq.
Iran has vowed harsh retaliation, raising fears of an all-out war, but it's unclear how or when it might respond. Any retaliation was likely to come after three days of mourning declared by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. All eyes were on Iraq, where America and Iran have competed for influence since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
The strikes have led to criticism, especially from Democrats and left-leaning groups, who say Trump is playing with fire and risking an all-out war. Protests have been held for the past two days in New York.