Megan Rapinoe returns to taking knee for national anthem
— -- COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For the second time in recent days, but the first while wearing the uniform of the U.S. women's national team, Megan Rapinoe chose not to stand for the national anthem prior to a soccer game.
Instead, Rapinoe knelt on the sideline during the "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to Thursday's exhibition game between the United States and Thailand in what she has previously described as a gesture of solidarity with? San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick?and others protesting social inequalities in the African-American community.
Rapinoe first knelt during the anthem prior to a Sept. 4 game involving the Seattle Reign, the team for which she plays in the National Women's Soccer League. In her next NWSL game with Seattle on Sept. 7, the Washington Spirit played the anthem before players took the field to prevent a repeat protest.
Most recently, Rapinoe chose to stand and link arms with teammates during the anthem prior to a game on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in what she indicated was a nod to the sensitivity of the occasion.
As recently as a day before the game against Thailand, the first for the United States since the Olympics and since Kaepernick's protests came to national attention, Rapinoe said she wasn't sure whether she would take a knee. U.S. coach Jill Ellis said while she supported Rapinoe's activism, she felt it was the expectation of a national team player to stand for the anthem.
But after standing alongside other non-starters during the playing of Thailand's anthem Thursday night at Mapfre Stadium in Ohio's capital, Rapinoe knelt to the ground during the American anthem, sung by an Air Force servicewoman. No players joined her, although all remained close by on either side. Moments before the anthem, teammate Meghan Klingenberg hugged Rapinoe.
There was little discernible reaction, positive or negative, from the crowd.
The substitute role for Rapinoe was not a surprise; the midfielder hasn't started for the national team since tearing an ACL last December, and one of the starting places she might otherwise have contended for was occupied by Heather O'Reilly in the veteran's final international game.
Rapinoe played a part in one of the most iconic on-field moments in the history of the women's national team, delivering the cross that Abby Wambach headed for a late tying goal during an Olympic quarterfinal against Brazil in 2012.
But the 31-year-old has been equally visible in using the platform of the national team to address off-field issues. A longtime advocate for LGBT rights, she is also one of five players named in an equal-pay complaint filed against U.S. Soccer and was a vocal critic of the artificial turf used during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.
She spoke Wednesday of frustration that what she described as the "medium" of protest has been debated more than the social issues that Kaepernick first cited as the root cause of those protests. Rapinoe reiterated concerns about both police violence against minority communities and the challenges faced by police. Not long after she spoke at Mapfre Stadium, a police shooting occurred a little more than 4 miles away.
The mayor of Columbus and other officials asked the public for patience Thursday as they addressed the overnight shooting death of a 13-year-old African-American boy. Officials said the boy, Tyree King, was shot and killed by an officer after King pulled what appeared to be a firearm out of his waistband when pursued in connection with an armed robbery minutes earlier. The weapon turned out to be what was described as a realistic-looking BB gun.
It is unclear what, if any, role the incident played in Rapinoe's decision to follow through on her protest during the national anthem, although she retweeted a tweet from journalist and Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King that connected the shooting with the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was playing with a pellet gun when he was fatally shot by Cleveland police in 2014.
The U.S. women's national team next plays Sunday in Atlanta against the Netherlands.
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