A sheriff’s office in Arkansas removed mugshots from its jail roster less than an hour after journalist and activist Shaun King reported that inmates had been dressed in Nike t-shirts in order to mock Colin Kaepernick, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Wednesday.
King on Wedesday cited an unnamed source who told him the shirts were used in Union County Sheriff’s Office mugshots “to mock Nike and Colin Kaepernick,” in his words.
The Sheriff in Union County, Arkansas is putting Nike t-shirts on people they arrest and making them wear them during mugshots.
Source says it is to mock Nike and Colin Kaepernick. Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/9z9Nw9hxuF
— Shaun King (@shaunking) October 11, 2018
Kaepernick signed a marketing deal with Nike in early September, even though the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback is not currently signed with any NFL team; in 2017, he filed a complaint against the NFL alleging franchises had colluded against him, in order to keep him out of a job, in retaliation for him kneeling during the national anthem protest against racism and police brutality.
In August, an arbitrator said Kaepernick’s case could move forward.
A representative of the Union County Sheriff’s Office told TPM the office would be releasing a statement on the story over email. This post will be updated with any statement.
The Democrat-Gazette reported Wednesday that one piece of Nike apparel seen in several mugshots — with a small trademark “swoosh” on the breast — had been used in mugshots pre-dating Kaepernick’s Nike deal. A second piece of Nike apparel — with “Nike Athletics” in large letters — came into use a few days after Kaepernick’s deal, the Democrat-Gazette reported.
At least 11 of the 182 inmates whose mugshots were taken down had been wearing that shirt in the photos over their clothing, according to the report.
The Brett Effect in action.
I remember back in the damn early '80s when conservatives decided they could be funny too, and to this day they haven’t gotten it through their heads that they can’t be funny too because they’re just not funny and don’t have the equipment to figure funny out. When they try, it’s painful.
This sheriff is a pitiful little boy so small you couldn’t find him with a microscope. Sad.
I don’t even know what to say about this. Truly, I am speechless.
Does this HORRENDOUSLY STUPID MF’er realize that the Nike Corporation could sue them within inches of their lives? And win?
ETA: Having worked in a Legal & Business Affairs Dept., I’ve no doubt that Nike owns ALL aspects of the Nike brand, words, images, phrases, etc. Smart move, guys.