San Anselmo Councilman Takes A Knee During Pledge Of Allegiance
SAN ANSELMO (CBS SF) -- While it has become commonplace for professional football players to take a knee during the National Anthem, San Anselmo's Ford Greene may be the only local politician to carry the practice over into a city council meeting.
Greene has been dropping to a knee during the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of council meetings since the October 10th meeting. Some council members assumed he was backing former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's Black Lives Matter protest.
Although supportive of the former 49er, Greene says he's protesting something else.
"I can't stand the destruction Donald Trump is wreaking on our country," he said. "Eliminating net neutrality, his use of office of the Presidency for his own selfish business gain."
For two months no one asked why he was taking a knee. Finally, a newspaper reporter asked.
"I thought about it," said Greene of revealing his motive.
Former San Anselmo Councilman Tom McInerney can be heard chuckling in the video of the October protest.
He says Greene's action was 'laughable' because he has a tendency to grandstand.
"If you engage in protest, the whole point is to tell people why you're doing it instead of keeping it secret," McInerney told KPIX 5.
Fellow attorney Arthur Pirelli says Greene has his own way of doing things.
"He's done various protests throughout the years," he told KPIX 5. "He speaks his mind."
Greene says he plans to continue to kneel during the Pledge of Allegiance at council meetings and at the Central Marin Police Council where he represents San Anselmo.
