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Through the perilous ght
A letter from an FOP brother about the protests against the flag goes viral and speaks for all police officers
By Mitchell Krugel
How did you feel on that Aug. 26 Friday night when Colin Kaepernick sat down in protest during the Nation- al Anthem – and by association, the American Flag – be- fore his San Francisco 49ers played the Green Bay Pack- ers in an NFL preseason game?
What did you want to say to Kaepernick when his ex- planation for the protest disparaged and incriminated those who serve and protect, especially law enforce- ment officers?
What would you have told Kaepernick if risk of posting on social media, let alone Department policies, didn’t bite your tongue?
Would it have read like the pledge of allegiance your brother, Retired FOP member from the Norfolk, Virginia Police Department Chris Amos, wrote that you see here on page 47? This is the same letter that Chicago Lodge 7 posted on its website and has appeared on hundreds, even thousands of law enforcement agency websites, Facebook pages and other internet transmissions.
In fact, the Open Letter to Colin Kaepernick Amos wrote the morning after the back-up quarterback be- came nationally-renowned and vilified as a sit-down guy has been tweeted, re-tweeted, YouTubed and posted so much that it has generated more than 20 million hits.
“The comments and responses I have received from police officers, many of them have said they don’t feel like they have a voice because they are at the mercy of their PIOs or restricted by social media policies and can only share their opinions amongst themselves,” Amos said during an interview he wanted to do to stand up with his FOP sisters and brothers.
Take a moment to read the letter if you haven’t already, and you will realize Amos is supremely qualified to make these statements. He has many other qualifications, not the least of which are serving the Norfolk PD for 27
years, including many as a PIO after that fatal shooting, and serving as pastor for the Christ Fellowship Church in Chesapeake, Virginia he planted in 2012 to especially help first responders.
Amos, too, was watching that August night when Kaepernick went on his sit-down strike, and he, too, felt the rage about the action questioning the flag and what it represents. He had also done some research into Kaepernick’s comments attempting to justify his ac- tions, and Amos had the reaction that most people who have spent their lives defending the freedom the flag represents most likely felt that night.
“I went to bed that Sunday night and tossed and turned all night,” Amos described. “I got up early Mon- day morning, went down to my office in my house, sat down at the computer and the letter flowed out. It took me all of 10 minutes. It just spilled out on the page.”
His intention was only to post the letter on his Face- book page.
“I hit post and didn’t think much of it,” Amos added. “I
46 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2016