Protesters kneel around Trump's Walk of Fame star in U.S. Hollywood

Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-26 18:29:44|Editor: ying
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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A dozen of protesters took a knee around U.S. President Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star on Monday to support National Football League (NFL) players, who staged an unprecedented wave of protest in defiance of their president.

The fight between Trump and NFL players started Friday when Trump criticized players' kneeling down during the national anthem as disrespectful to the U.S. flag and the country, and called NFL owners to fire those players who knelt.

Tensions escalated as Trump repeated his remarks on twitter Sunday. More than 200 players knelt down, locked arms or remained in the locker room during the anthem time that day.

Trump didn't soften his tone in front of backlash, and tweeted, "Great solidarity for our National Anthem and for our country. Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable."

Michelle Xai, who organized the protest at Hollywood, told Fox 11 news channel that the small group of protesters were gathered to send a message to the president that they didn't like white supremacy "coming out from the White House."

The battle over standing during the national anthem initially called for racial justice, as former San Francisco 49ers team quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled down before match in August last year to draw attention to how minorities are treated by police.

Some passers-by joined the Hollywood protest and raised their fists.

"If you're just protesting peacefully and quietly, then you should be able to do it. It's your right," football fan Rafe Ibrahamin told CBS Los Angeles.

However, others disapproved of such an action.

"I find it very disheartening because we live in a great country. And if you feel the need to protest, you need to find a way to do it that doesn't insult the people who made the country what it is," football fan Tammi Perman said.

Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star has become a hot spot for tourists and protesters since he took office in January. Trump was honored with the star in 2007 for his work in producing the Miss Universe pageant and his hit reality television show The Apprentice.

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