Local Ford dealer agrees with the Sheriff, will take concerns to corporate HQ.
Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington said his office will no longer purchase Ford products after the automaker expressed support for National Football League players’ right to kneel in protest during the national anthem.
In a letter to Hixson Ford of Alexandria on Wednesday, Whittington said “recent events surrounding the NFL, its players and their audacity to thumb their collective noses at the American flag, the American military, as well as their obvious disdain for the profession of law enforcement in general, forces me to take a stand.”
Some NFL players began kneeling or sitting during the national anthem during the 2016 season, following the lead of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said when asked to explain his protest, according to NFL.com.
The protests have continued through the start of the 2017 season.
In late September, Ford Motor Company, a sponsor of the NFL, released a statement in response to controversy over numerous NFL players kneeling in protest during the national anthem prior to games.
“We respect individuals’ rights to express their views, even if they are not ones we share. That’s part of what makes America great,” read Ford’s statement, according to CNN.[…]
According to information provided by BPSO, in 2016 and 2017 the sheriff’s office purchased 29 vehicles from Hixson Autoplex, spending $747,132.
Those vehicles included 21 Ford Police Interceptors, four Ford Tauruses, a Ford F-150, two Ford F-250s and a Ford Explorer.
Whittington also told Hixson Ford that he would send copies of his letter to Louisiana’s 63 other sheriffs.
HT: Justlittlolme