Members of the Kansas State University soccer team say they will boycott all team activities until action is taken against a student who posted an offensive tweet about George Floyd.
In a letter posted on social media Saturday by multiple players, which The Associated Press reported apparently representing the majority of the team, the players pledged not to “play, practice or meet” until the university establishes a policy that allows that a student be dismissed for racist or intolerant statements.
“We demand that Kansas State University establish a policy that allows a student to be fired for displaying openly racist, threatening, or disrespectful actions toward a student or groups of students,” the statement read.
I am with my family pic.twitter.com/5QcPIn4fGq
– Konner Fox (@KonnerFox) June 27, 2020
The riot follows a tweet from conservative Kansas State student and founder of the campus “America First Students” organization, Jaden McNeil, who mockingly offered his congratulations on Thursday to Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody an month before, for “being drug free for a whole month!”
McNeil has since deleted the tweet after his Twitter account was blocked, and a message saying he violates the site’s rules can be seen.
In subsequent tweets, he has duplicated the message and criticized the university for condemning his tweet amid protests across the country over Floyd’s death. Protesters across the country have called for changes to police surveillance in the wake of Floyd’s death after a video showed a white officer kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes before his death.
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