A veterans bar in Missouri has sparked outcry for turning two NFL jerseys into a doormat that reads “Lynch Kaepernick”.
Jason Burle, the owner of SNAFU bar in Lake Ozark, Missouri, said he made the doormat in response to recent protests by NFL players. Many players have started kneeling during the national anthem to protest the killing of black people by police officers.
But to Mr Burle, a US Air Force veteran, the protest is disrespectful to those who served.
“A lot of us military folks take that personal to heart," Mr Burle told local news station KUMO.
So the veteran claims he decided to order jerseys for two NFL players: Colin Kaepernick, who started the recent protests, and Marshawn Lynch, who has vocally defended him.
Mr Burle stuck the jerseys to the ground outside his bar with duct tape.
"It's not a race thing,” Mr Burle told KUMO, adding that the jersey placement was just “ the way they came out of the box”.
A 15 September Facebook photo from the bar, however, shows a lone Kaepernick jersey being used as a door mat.
"New door mat installed just in time for bikefest!" the Facebook post reads. "Come wipe your feet on your way in!"
Taylor Sloan, a resident of the neighbouring state of Kansas, noticed the newest version of the doormat over the weekend. He expressed his disdain in a post on the bar's Facebook page.
"You are also expressing hate, violence and continuing American racism under the faux guise of patriotism,” he wrote.
"There's a reason why the NAACP issued a travel warning for Missouri," he added. "...You lost my business the moment you decided to showcase this kind of behavior."
The post set off a heated Facebook war, with other users posting one-star reviews and negative comments about the bar, and Mr Burle using social media to defend his position.
“You have the right thanks to people like me to not frequent my establishment just as I have the right to protest the NFL for disrespecting the very song that stands for those freedoms,” the bar owner wrote, according to screenshots obtained by the Riverfront Times.
Several days later, however, Mr Burl had re-arranged the jerseys to read “Kaepernick Lynch,” instead. He told KUMO he didn’t plan on taking them down completely.
“I commend [the players] for what they’re doing, as far as the right goes. I fought for that right,” Mr Burle said. “The same thing that gives them that right gives me the right to place these out here.”
Mr Burle’s comments echo those of President Donald Trump, who recently claimed the NFL players are “disrespecting our Flag & Country”. Mr Trump’s repeated comments on the issue have ignited something of a culture war between those who support the player’s protest, and those who do not.
On Tuesday, the day Mr Burle re-arranged his jerseys, the President tweeted: “The booing at the NFL football game last night, when the entire Dallas team dropped to its knees, was loudest I have ever heard."
“Great anger,” he added.
Mr Burle did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
