LA activist arrested for organizing Colin Kaepernick protest outside of Rams game

Before the LA Rams home opener during Week 1 of the NFL season, dozens of organizers blocked traffic entering the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which led to the detainment of one prominent South LA activist.

Najee Ali, the political director for the LA Chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, was placed in handcuffs during the rally. The “knee-in” protests — which Ali and others began during the preseason and continued during the home opener, along with a boycott of NFL games and products — started before noon on the West Coast and ended around 1:30 pm.

The protests are meant to maintain awareness of Colin Kaepernick’s exile from the NFL and to further his stand and call for racial equality. The Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, of which Kaepernick was a member at Nevada, was in attendance.

LAPD said the arrangement was unlawful assembly due to the blockage of traffic. Ali was the only organizer detained and he was released before 5 p.m. on Sunday. LAPD confirmed to SB Nation that Ali was issued a citation, to which he admitted guilt, and charged with failure to disperse, a misdemeanor that classifies the gathering as a riot.

Ali was taken home by his wife and his daughter, who were also at the protest. The original plan when devising this protest, Ali said, was that he would be arrested, and afterward, the rest of the group gathered would decide whether to stop or continue protesting. They plan to continue their “mass civil disobedience” for the Ram’s next home game, Ali said Monday.

Following his detainment, Ali said that his group’s protest and boycott of the NFL and the Rams was a success.

“At the end of the day, this doesn’t compare to the ultimate sacrifice African Americans made who were unjustly killed by officers nationwide,” Ali said in a phone interview.

“My sacrifice is nothing next to what Kaepernick is facing, losing millions of dollars and his career by advocating on our behalf when he didn’t have to.”

The Rev. K.W. Tulloss, the Western Regional Director of the National Action Network, finished the protest following Ali’s arrest. He, like many other organizers in the area, said that the protests will continue.

Ali’s collective in LA is one on a growing list of national organizations and organizers willing to boycott the NFL this season. Since August, groups blacking out the league have called for NFL policy reform to create a football environment in the NFL where players aren’t punished for protest.

An NFL spokesperson said last month that the league was looking to set up meetings with activist groups that have organized protests, but there is no record yet of meetings taking place. While Kaepernick remains unsigned for reasons seemingly unrelated to football, activists and organizers have insisted for weeks that what’s happening is bigger than just one player.

“This is going to continue. We are in this for the long haul,” Ali said. “Even if that means getting arrested every week. We will do whatever is necessary until we get justice. Getting arrested every Sunday is nothing compared to being murdered by rogue police officers.”

Representatives for the Rams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.