Until recently, national anthem protests have stayed away from Major League Baseball. That changed this weekend in Oakland, when A’s rookie Bruce Maxwell became the first MLB player to take a knee as the Star Spangled Banner played.
Maxwell’s protest came divisive comments from Donald Trump over the weekend.
On Monday night, Oakland was once again the scene for a national anthem protest, but this time it was an entire group that came together.
While performing the anthem, the Oakland Unified School District Honor Band kneeled together and received applause from the fans.
“They’re at an age where they don’t have a lot of power cause they can’t vote and they’re just watching what’s happening, but they’re also old enough to know what’s going on,” said band member parent Edie Hirsh, via ABC News 7.
Hirsch’s kid who is in the band, Bodhi, said, “We wanted to say that what [Trump’s] saying is not ok.”
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Participation in the protest was voluntarily, and while a large majority of the band took a knee, a few members remained standing.
As for Bruce Maxwell, he returned to the plate with a standing ovation from the crowd.
On Saturday, Bruce Maxwell took a knee in protest.
On Monday, he got a standing ovation. pic.twitter.com/ua8vrOXqdy— SB Nation MLB (@SBNationMLB) September 26, 2017
Unfortunately for the A’s, they went on to drop Monday’s game to the Seattle Mariners, 7-1.
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