The US Navy Is Investigating a Video Showing Military Dogs Attacking a Man in a Colin Kaepernick Jersey During a Demonstration

By Tasneem Nashrulla, BuzzFeed

04 August 20

The demonstration reportedly took place at a Navy SEAL Museum event in Florida last year, but videos of the incident resurfaced online on Sunday.

he US Navy SEALs said Sunday that they were investigating a video that appeared to show a military dog demonstration using a "Colin Kaepernick stand-in" at the National Navy SEAL Museum in Florida last year.

Videos of the event were posted by an Instagram user in January 2019, but they received widespread attention on social media after filmmaker Billy Corben shared them on his Twitter account on Sunday.

The videos appeared to show several military dogs attacking a "target" wearing a Kaepernick jersey during the demonstration at the museum in Fort Pierce.

In a statement on Twitter, the US Naval Special Warfare Command said the agency first became aware on Sunday of the video showing a "military working dog demonstration" held at the National Navy SEAL Museum last year.

In the demonstration, the "target" is wearing Kaepernick's jersey, the agency confirmed.

The US Navy SEALs said there were "no active duty Navy personnel or equipment" involved with "this independent organization's event."

"The inherent message of this video is completely inconsistent with the values and ethos of Naval Special Warfare and the US Navy," the statement said. "We are investigating the matter fully."

The National Navy SEAL Museum did not respond to a request for comment.

Kaepernick, who is currently a free agent, played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers before he began taking a knee during the national anthem to protest systemic police brutality and racial inequality in the US.

His protest has encouraged many athletes in the US and across the world to do the same and has also prompted backlash from NFL owners, sports fans, and President Donald Trump.

Terry Merlo, who originally posted the videos on his Instagram account on Jan. 27, 2019, wrote in the caption: "Colin Kaepernick stand in attacked by 5 Navy SEAL attack dogs at fundraiser for the Navy SEAL Museum in Ft Pierce. Awesome! Stand for the National Anthem!"

Merlo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the video, a man yells out to the crowd, "You guys want to see Josh get bit again?"

Several dogs are then released one by one to "target" the man identified as Josh, who is wearing Kaepernick's jersey.

Another video posted by Merlo and reposted by Corben on Twitter shows the target on the ground as a crowd of onlookers cheer.