Superintendent on Worcester Football Player: 'He Exercised His Constitutional Rights'

WORCESTER, MA — When San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick chose to kneel during the national anthem to protest racial inequality, it spawned some copycats around the country who are choosing to demonstrate in the same way.

This weekend, a Doherty Memorial High School football player, Michael Oppong, knelt down during the national anthem, joining others to silently display his opinion. Oppong said he was originally suspended for one game, but a statement from the school system says there will be no disciplinary action.

Chatter erupted that Oppong had been disciplined by the school for his decision, particularly since Oppong himself tweeted it on Sunday, but Superintendent Maureen Binienda on Monday morning released a statement that the player was not suspended.

"The Doherty student did not violate any school rule when he peacefully and silently protested during the National Anthem," she said in a statement. "He exercised his Constitutional Rights without disturbing the school assembly and he is not being disciplined in any way by his actions. Worcester Public Schools is a rich, diverse community that thrives to maintain open dialogue about the challenges that our community and our country face."

There is controversy surrounding whether Oppong had been suspended for his actions, including the popular blogger TurtleBoy outright calling him a liar about his claims of suspension.

According to Gossips, the Worcester player's actions has more than 63,000 people on Facebook alone talking about his kneel, and Twitter's erupting with more than 6,000 likes.