US Soccer Star Kneels for National Anthem

Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest has spread to soccer: Megan Rapinoe, a Seattle Reign midfielder and member of the US women's national team, knelt for the national anthem before her team's 2-2 with the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday, Mashable reports. The 31-year-old, who has been on the US team for 10 years, including their 2015 World Cup win and Olympic gold in 2012, says the move was a "little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he's standing for right now"—and she plans to keep it up.

"Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties," Rapinoe tells American Soccer Now. "It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this." Kaepernick retweeted Rapinoe's response to thanks from activist Shaun King: "It's the least I can do. Keep the conversation going." (Cops have threatened to stop providing security for San Francisco 49ers games if Kaepernick's protest continues.)