The East Carolina band showed that kneeling during the national anthem isn’t only for the players.
Members of East Carolina’s band took a knee during the national anthem prior to the Pirates contest against Central Florida on Saturday.
Fans in attendance voiced their opinions on the matter when the band took the field at halftime:
Cecil P. Staton, the president of East Carolina, released a statement about the band’s protest during the anthem.
The last two sentences of the statement read as the following: “We are proud that recent campus conversations on difficult issues have been constructive, meaningful exchanges that helped grow new understanding among our campus community. East Carolina will safeguard the right to free speech, petition and peaceful assembly as assured by the U.S. Constitution.”
North Carolina has been a place of high tension since Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by police in September.
The Pirates currently trail Central Florida 37-21 late in the fourth quarter.