Story #1

Alabama high school students be warned: stand for the national anthem or get shot.

Alabama Pastor Allen Joyner delivered a speech at a McKenzie High School football game on September 9th that many won’t forget. The main message being: stand and show patriotism or face the consequences.

As Joyner said, “If you don’t want to stand for the National Anthem, you can line up over there by the fence and let our military personnel take a few shots AT you since they’re taking shots FOR you.”

His speech was likely in response to Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem at the 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers game just two weeks earlier. Kaepernick allegedly remained seated to protest racial injustices as noted by NFL Media reporter Steve Wyche. Ever since, there has been debate over whether what he did was right or wrong and whether or not he deserves to be shot.

Despite the controversy, a reporter from AL.com noted that Joyner’s speech was greeted by cheers from the crowd and was well received on social media. The Facebook post about his speech was shared 4,700 times and received over 50 positive comments before it was removed.

As the Huffington Post reported, the school initially took to Facebook to support the pastor, saying his speech was “taken out of context and misquoted”. Even so, the school later removed their Facebook post.

Butler County Schools Superintendent Amy Bryan later went on to denounce the pastor in a statement to AL.com by saying, “Patriotism should be a part of school events but threats of shooting people who aren’t patriotic, even in jest, have no place at a school.”

Not only can it be considered inappropriate for a high school football announcer to make such a statement at a game, but also, his words disheartened some of the veterans across the U.S.

The article from AL.com included a quote from Mark Bender, a 22 year Air Force veteran from Texas where he weighed in on Joyner’s speech.

Bender’s post on Sweet Home Alabama Baptist Church’s Facebook page said, “We fight so that all Americans retain their rights and freedoms to protest. I would never turn a weapon on my own countryman simply because they protest by remaining seated during the nation anthem, by refusing to recite the pledge of allegiance, refusing to stand or pledge during any act.”

Joyner has yet to comment on his speech and the school board still hasn’t decided how they are going to handle this issue. The board will meet next week to decide on any corrective actions or punishments for Joyner’s actions.

Sources:

Huffington Post

NFL

AL.com

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