Oakland A's Catcher Bruce Maxwell Says Pro-Trump Waiter Wouldn't Serve Him Because He Took The Knee
Though it has been a year since Colin Kaepernick's first "Take the Knee" protest, Oakland A's catcher Bruce Maxwell became the only MLB player to have kneeled during the national anthem when he did so on September 23. As a result, the 26-year-old athlete says he's been racially profiled and ostracized by a pro-Trump waiter in his hometown.
In a video obtained by TMZ Sports, Maxwell recalls a recent luncheon with a longtime friend and city councilman who, like Maxwell, identifies as African-American. When a waiter arrived at their table, he recognized Maxwell as "the guy that took a knee" before a game in late September, and refused to serve him.
"He was like, 'You're the guy who took his knee? I voted for Trump and I stand for everything he stands for,'" Maxwell said.
The waiter also mentioned that he attended Trump's rally in Huntsville, Alabama, where the president referred to Kim Jong Un as "Rocket Man" and called for NFL owners to fire every "son of a b—-" who chose to kneel in peaceful protest before the start of a football game.
After speaking with restaurant management, Maxwell and his companion were assigned a new waiter.
"Unless you're subject to it [racism], you won't understand it and you won't feel it," Maxwell continued. "I'm very respectful, I'm very educated, and it still happens to this day. That's the reason why I'm kneeling. Stuff like that."
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