Around New England

Rhode Island Town Council Passes Resolution Calling for Boycott of Nike

September 19, 2018

The town council of North Smithfield, Rhode Island passed a resolution 3-2 asking town departments not to buy products from Nike because of the company’s embrace of Colin Kaepernick.

Local chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union are condemning the Monday vote as racist and an infringement on free speech, according to the Providence Journal.

But independent candidate for governor Joe Trillo praised the resolution.

“I think it’s a good idea, and I support it. It’s about time people stand up for the American flag and all the people who have given their lives to defend our freedoms and support our police, instead of supporting an individual who thinks police are ‘pigs’,” Trill said in a written statement, according to the Providence Journal.

The incumbent, Governor Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, released a statement saying that local government should spend time on what she called “big issues impacting Rhode Islanders like jobs, education and opportunity,” according to the Providence Journal.

Allan Fung, the Republican nominee, did not respond to a request from comment from the newspaper.

Kaepernick, who began the practice of some National Football League players to kneel during the national anthem to protest what they describe as police brutality against blacks, recently signed an extension of his endorsement deal even though he isn’t playing professional football anymore and his prospects for rejoining the league are dim.