Colin Kaepernick-led organization to start offering free autopsies for ‘police-related’ deaths
Colin Kaepernick will start offering free autopsies to family members of anyone whose death is “police-related,” his “Know Your Rights Camp” organization announced Wednesday.
The initiative will provide free, secondary autopsies conducted by board-certified pathologists and then disclose the findings to the families. The autopsy can be requested after any “police-related death.”
"We know that the prison industrial complex, which includes police and policing, strives to protect and serve its interests at all costs," Kaepernick said, via The Associated Press. "The Autopsy Initiative is one important step toward ensuring that family members have access to accurate and forensically verifiable information about the cause of death of their loved one in their time of need."
The initiative will simply ensure that any initial autopsy was conducted without any biases or errors in police-related deaths, so that families can have a full picture of what happened.
“I am extremely enthusiastic about this truly unique program,” pathology coordinator Dr. Cyril Wecht told The Associated Press. "The opportunity to have unbiased second autopsies performed by independent, experienced forensic pathologists in police-related deaths will provide victims' families with knowledge that the true facts of any such case have been thoroughly analyzed and prepared for appropriate utilization whenever deemed necessary.”
Kaepernick first founded the “Know Your Rights Camp” in 2016 with the goal to help “advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.”
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has been focused on social justice issues since he last played in the NFL — which is when he started kneeling during the national anthem to draw attention to social injustices throughout the country. That protest, which is now commonplace throughout the sports world, led to him essentially being blackballed from the league. Kaepernick and former teammate Eric Reid reached a settlement with the NFL over their collusion grievance in 2019.
Kaepernick has not played since, but has said repeatedly that he is ready to return.
