Berwick player kneels during anthem; father ejected after alleged incident in stands

A Berwick High School football player took a knee during Friday’s homecoming game in Berwick against Ascension Episcopal.

The player’s father was also escorted out of the game after allegedly cursing at other people in the stands toward the end of the game, according to a report by KLFY in Lafayette.

Berwick High cornerback Keyon Singleton was the only member of his team to take a knee during the national anthem.

The protest comes a week after President Donald Trump made comments at a rally in Alabama saying that he would be in favor of NFL owners firing players who kneel in protest during the national anthem.

Other high school players around the country have also kneeled in protest in addition to NFL players. The original protests began in August 2016, when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat on the bench during the national anthem at a preseason game in protest of racial inequality and police brutality against minorities.

St. Mary Parish Schools Superintendent Leonard Armato issued the following statement in response to Singleton kneeling during the national anthem.

“We expect and encourage our students to stand for the national anthem and the flag. We also respect an individual’s first amendment right. As a system, we rather see an individual take the protest to another venue and not bring the protest to a high school event,” Armato said.

Armato said that taking a knee during the national anthem is not a punishable offense for the student.

Floyd Malveaux, Singleton’s father, told KLFY that his son decided on his own that he would take a knee due to racial injustices and also because he is aware of the third verse of the national anthem, which he says his son finds racist.

Malveaux said when he returned to the stands, another parent approached him and began swearing and using inappropriate language, the article stated.

A verbal altercation allegedly ensued between the two parents. However, when the police arrived Malveaux said he was told to leave but not the other parent, the KLFY article said.

The Daily Review attempted to contact Malveaux Monday morning through Facebook, but had not received a response back as of 9 a.m.

Berwick Police Chief James Richard confirmed that officers responded to a complaint in the stands with just a couple of minutes left in the game.

Officers responded at about 10 p.m. Friday to the complaint of a man allegedly cursing, Richard said. The man was escorted out of the game and removed from the stadium, Richard said. The man wasn’t arrested in the incident, and Richard wouldn’t confirm any of the names of the parties allegedly involved.

Richard did say that the man “was not removed from the stands because someone was kneeling.”

Richard said the man “was removed from the stands and removed from the park because of the cursing and profanity.”

The alleged incident in the stands stemmed from “some type of discussion he was having with others in the stands,” the chief said.

“No officer witnessed any of that (discussion),” Richard said.

However, officers did witness “the cursing and foul language he was using,” the chief said. Officers didn’t witness anyone else cursing when they responded to the complaint, Richard said.