Navy probes footage of five military dogs mauling a ‘target’ wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey at SEAL Museum fundraiser ‘for not standing during the National Anthem’
- The videos were supposedly shot at a museum fundraising event in January 2019
- A man wears a Colin Kaepernick football jersey during a K-9 attack demo
- The man can also be heard saying ‘Oh man, I’ll stand’ during a mock arrest
- The US Navy called the man in the demonstration ‘a target’ and said it is investigating the incident ‘fully’
- The Navy said no active duty personnel or equipment was used in the demo
- The Navy SEAL Museum does not appear to have any official ties to the Navy
The US Navy is investigating videos purportedly shot during a 2019 fundraiser at The National Navy SEAL Museum in Florida, showing a demonstration where K-9 dogs attacked a man wearing a Colin Kaepernick football jersey.
The videos, which have since been removed, were posted on Instagram in January 2019 and feature a man called Josh, acting as a target for several dogs. The clips were apparently shot at a Navy Seal Museum fundraising event in January 2019 in Fort Pierce, Florida.
The first video caption states that ‘Colin Kaepernick stand in Josh gets attacked by 5 Navy SEAL dogs for not standing during the National Anthem at a Navy SEAL Museum fundraiser.’
The US Navy is now investigating video showing a ‘target’ wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey being attacked by K-9 dogs during a Navy SEAL Museum demonstration in January 2019
The caption accompanying the video states that the dogs were attacking the Kaepernick ‘stand in’ for ‘not standing during the National Anthem’
In that video, he is seen standing as a series of dogs run towards him and then attack him on command.
The second video’s caption is: ‘Demo during fundraiser Navy SEALs and Navy SEAL dogs take down Colin Kaepernick for not standing during National Anthem.’
Colin Kaepernick is pictured in 2016 kneeling during the National Anthem while still a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers
Here, Josh is seen being taken into mock custody. At one point, Josh is ordered to get ‘on your belly,’ to which he replies, ‘Oh man, I’ll stand,’ drawing chuckles from the audience.
In both videos, Josh wears a red football jersey – emblazoned with ‘Kaepernick’ and his San Francisco 49ers team number – over a padded outfit which protects him from the attack dogs.
Kaepernick made headlines after he started kneeling during the National Anthem before games while he was still the 49ers quarterback. He has not played in an NFL game since the 2016 season.
Some have accused Kaepernick of disrespecting the military by taking a knee during the anthem, but he has repeatedly said that the act is meant to highlight social injustice.
Although the video footage is more than a year and a half old, the Navy appears to have only recently gotten wind of what happened.
In one of the videos, the Kaepernick stand-in was told to roll over at which point he responded ‘Oh man, I’ll stand,’ an apparent reference to the quarterback’s kneeling during the anthem
The video’s Instagram caption specifically mentioned Kaepernick not standing for the anthem
Kaepernick has said that he started kneeling during the anthem to protest social injustice, not to disrespect the military as his detractors have claimed
The US Navy said that no active-duty members were involved in the demonstration. The Navy SEAL Museum does not appear to have any official ties to the Navy
On Sunday, the Navy SEAL’s official Twitter account tweeted a statement addressing the videos.
‘We became aware today of a video of a Navy SEAL Museum event posted last year with a military working dog demonstration. In the demonstration, the target is wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey,’ the statement said.
‘The inherent message of this video is completely inconsistent with the values and ethos of Naval Special Warfare and the U.S. Navy.’
The SEALs Twitter account went on to state that it is investigating the incident ‘fully’ and noted that ‘initial indications are that there were no active duty Navy personnel or equipment involved with this independent organization’s event.’
The Navy SEAL Museum was founded by retired SEAL Captain Norman Olson and opened in 1985, according to the organization’s website. It does not appear to have any official ties to the Navy.
The people involved in the demonstration have not been named and it’s unclear if they have any military background.
The Navy SEAL Museum has not yet made a statement about the incident. Kaepernick has not addressed it publicly, either.