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Oakland A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell kneels for anthem after President Trump’s comments

Oakland A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell kneeled during the national anthem before they played the Rangers in Oakland on Saturday, and he was the first MLB player to do so.

The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Susan Slusser reported from the game:

The product of a military family, Maxwell placed his hand on his heart and faced the flag during the anthem while taking a knee before the game against Texas. Teammate Mark Canha placed his hand on Maxwell’s shoulder.

Prior to the game, Maxwell denounced President Donald Trump on Instagram and Twitter. The 26-year-old called out the “ignorance” Trump showed the night before when he said that “son of a (expletive)” NFL players should be fired for not standing during the anthem.

Along with a screengrab of a tweet that said every NFL player should kneel during the anthem on Sunday in the wake of Trump’s comments, Maxwell wrote on Instagram:

“Yeah (expletive) this guy! Our president speaks of inequality of man because players are protesting the anthem! (Expletive) this man! Seriously on the highest platform for our country expressing that it is OK for there to be Division of man and rights!”

On Twitter, Maxwell posted the following tweets, including one that says, “Don’t be surprised if you start seeing athletes kneeling in other sports now!! Comments like that coming from our president. WOW!”

Shortly after Maxwell kneeled, the A’s released this statement that say, “The Oakland A’s pride ourselves on being inclusive. We respect and support all of our players’ constitutional rights and freedom of expression.”

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