Rep. Dan Crenshaw Steps In It As He Demands Ouster Of Olympian Who Shunned U.S. Flag
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Critics erupted Monday after Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) demanded that Black athlete Gwen Berry be kicked off the U.S. Olympic team for turning her back on the American flag during the anthem in protest at trials over the weekend.
Berry, a hammer thrower who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after placing third in Oregon, was protesting “systemic racism” and police brutality in the U.S.
“We don’t need any more activist athletes,” Crenshaw snapped Monday on “Fox & Friends.” “She should be removed from the team. The entire point of the Olympic team is to represent the United States of America. It’s the entire point.”
He then called such protests, which are protected by the First Amendment, a “pathology” linked to “teaching critical race theory,” referring to education about how the nation’s history has solidified a social structure based on racism.
Dan Crenshaw calls for Gwen Berry to be removed from the Olympic team because she turned away from the flag pic.twitter.com/c2xWKLXPPJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 28, 2021
Critics on social media pointed out that Crenshaw voted against the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the violence Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump turned poles holding the U.S. flag into weapons as they stormed the building to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
While Crenshaw has attacked Trump and his colleagues for inciting the violence at the Capitol, he also wrote in a Wall Street Journal essay that it was “no surprise that thousands showed up to make their voices heard.”
The “real cause” of the “unrest was that many officeholders and commentators misled millions of Americans to believe that the vote count was their final chance to have a say,” he added, a situation he did not describe as “pathological.”
Berry’s actions were nonviolent, and they didn’t appear to violate any rules of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics Committee. In fact, Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the USOPC, told athletes late last year in a post and letter that she believed “their right to advocate for racial and social justice and act as a force for good deserves the support” of the committee.
The organization determined then that athletes will be allowed to “peacefully and respectfully” engage in demonstrations in support of racial or social causes at the Olympics.
I value the voices of Team USA athletes and believe that their right to advocate for racial and social justice and act as a force for good deserves the support of the USOPC. My full letter to Team USA athletes: pic.twitter.com/xAUBKKR5iX
— Sarah Hirshland (@USOPC_CEO) December 10, 2020
Earlier in March, the committee had also determined it would allow some forms of peaceful protest during the Olympic qualifying trials, including kneeling during the anthem and raising fists.
Athletes’ “right to advocate for racial and social justice aligns with the fundamental values of equality that define Team USA and the Olympic and Paralympic movements,” the committee stated then.
Berry dismissed Crenshaw’s comments as an obsession.
At this point, y’all are obsessed with me https://t.co/HBWCE28s7x
— Gwen Berry OLY (@MzBerryThrows) June 28, 2021
Others were far more scathing.
Republicans-
On the left- “Peaceful patriotic protest”.
On the right- “Disrespecting the flag”. pic.twitter.com/Cuz48R5Zrb— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) June 28, 2021
I mean, doesn’t she know how to respect the flag? pic.twitter.com/I0aIlLWlUV
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) June 28, 2021
One literally attacked our government during a democratic election process.
The other is asking our country to treat its citizens fairly, and to stop killing and harming black people disproportionately.
Which form of protest is protected by the American Constitution?— Renee (@paix120) June 28, 2021
So she can't exercise her freedoms? Because they don't like it? Because she's female? Because she's black?
— Felonious Monk (@treybritt42) June 28, 2021
Crenshaw says the Quiet part out loud. “We have a problem with Black Athletes using their First Amendment Rights.”
— Pete Diviny (@DivinyPete) June 28, 2021
Dan can kiss my ass. And if “folks” gonna be mad at Black American athletes… uh, when y’all gonna cheer for the USA!? Because we are EVERYWHERE in these Olympics 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 @MzBerryThrows is THAT deal & y’all should put some respect on her name. Period. https://t.co/DLUcr8oXqi
— Miss Mox (@hotblackbitter) June 28, 2021
OK @DanCrenshawTX let's talk about disrespecting the American flag! pic.twitter.com/6mQR08lg9P
— Chipmunk Whisperer (@ChipmunkWhispe1) June 28, 2021
https://t.co/3ssWdpSkhR I repost this every time I see one of these ridiculous criticisms about “disrespecting” the flag.
— Rosemary Mendel (@rosemary918) June 28, 2021
The same people that want Gwen Berry thrown out of the Olympics for enacting her right to protest in turning away from the flag
are the same people that try to ignore & downplay the capitol riots where a DC officer was beat with a pole flying the American Flag— Anthony V. Clark (@anthonyvclark20) June 28, 2021
Also on HuffPost
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.