A Minnesota airport is protesting possible incoming air travel for Super Bowl LII over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem.
Members of the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport Commission spoke out Thursday against the player protests during a meeting on travel to the Super Bowl, which is scheduled for February in Minneapolis.
Flights to Minneapolis may be rerouted to other airports in the state, including Brainerd, during inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances.
Commission member Jeff Czeczok made a motion to protest such flights to Brainerd until the NFL forces players to stand during the national anthem before games.
Nearly all commission members agreed with Czeczok, but the motion failed for lack of a second, the Duluth News Tribune reported.
“I just would like to remind the people sitting at this table that, you know, we have a national organization that has team members kneeling down during our national anthem,” Czeczok said.
Commission member Marty Johnson slammed the media for covering the NFL protests.
“As long as the film crews and the media keep spotlighting the fact that this guy didn’t stand and this guy didn’t stand, they’re going to keep doing it,” Johnson said. “The media is the problem.”
Vice President Mike Pence left Sunday’s game between the Indianapolis Colt’s and the San Francisco 49ers, saying he was disgusted by the players who took a knee during the national anthem.
President Trump later took credit for Pence’s departure, saying he asked his vice president to leave the game if protests happened during the anthem.
