UPDATED 9:47 AM PT – Tuesday, March 2, 2021
A patriotic Paralympic soccer player is defending his actions despite being removed from the U.S. Soccer Council on account of them.
In a Twitter post Sunday, 38-year-old Seth Jahn said he would “never apologize for the statements he made.” He also noted that he was embarrassed to have represented such a hypocritical federation.
My apology letter: pic.twitter.com/QLaHhjXDfn
— Seth Jahn (@SJahnIX) February 28, 2021His comments came after he was removed from his position on the Athletes Council over the weekend for delivering a speech against a decision to allow players to kneel during the national anthem.
pic.twitter.com/cSTZVaDxlA
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) February 28, 2021“I keep hearing how our country was founded on the backs of slaves, even though approximately only 8 percent of the entire population even owned slaves,” he stated. “Every race in the history of mankind has been enslaved by another demographic at some point time.”
Before joining the Paralympic team, Jahn served three tours in Afghanistan as a member of the Army’s Special Operations and was critically injured twice.
Jahn said he knew he would “ruffle some feathers” with his comments, but pointed out that he was simply exercising his First Amendment right just like those kneeling during the national anthem.
Original Story: Paralympic vet ousted from U.S. Soccer Council over speech against players kneeling during playing of national anthem