Retired Police Officer's Kaepernick Post Goes Viral

CBN's Heather Sells talks with Chris Amos about his message to Kaepernick.

Chris Amos, a retired police officer from Norfolk, Va., recently shared his thoughts over all the flap caused by NFL football quarterback Colin Kapernick.

Kaepernick has been vocal against police and police brutality and has protested by sitting during the national anthem.

Amos called his Facebook post "An Open Letter to Colin Kaepernick."

He said his post came from the heart but he never expected it to go viral. It now has over 38,552 shares. 

Amos has seen his fair share of tragedy after burying seven friends who were killed in the line of duty, and three others who committed suicide.

Amos was even shot in the line of duty, suffering a gunshot wound to the chest and thigh. But he still holds close to his faith and says that his Facebook post was able to bring others to God. 

Amos said he had to respond to Kaepernick's statement that "cops are getting paid leave for killing people." Amos was once himself put on paid leave after shooting a 19-year-old African American male.

"And just like you said, I was the recipient of about $3,000 a month while on leave which was a good thing because I had to support a wife and three children under 7-years-old for about 2 months with that money. Things were pretty tight because I couldn't work part time. Every police officer I've ever known has worked part-time to help make ends meet," he wrote.

Amos took a different route in responding to Kaepernick, explaining that he did not want to lash out at him like others have. Instead he compared what they have in common.

"You know Colin the more I think about it the more we seem to have in common. I really pushed myself in rehab to get back on the street, kind of like you do to get back on the field," Amos explained.

"You probably have had a broken bone or two and some muscle strains and deep bruising that needed a lot of work. I just had to bounce back from a gunshot wound to the chest and thigh," he said.

He continued the comparison, "Good thing we both get paid when we are too banged up to 'play,' huh? We both also know what it's like to get blindsided. You by a 280-pound defensive end, ouch! Me, by a couple of rounds fired from a gun about 2 feet away, into my chest and thigh," Amos elaborated.

"We also both make our living wearing uniforms, right? You have probably ruined a jersey or two on the field of play. I still have my blood stained shirt that my partner and paramedics literally ripped off my back that cold night in January," he said. 

Amos says that his goal in responding to Kaepernick is to speak out for the police who are not able to speak out for themselves. 

"And so whether you stand or sit during the National Anthem means very little to me. As for me and the men and women on whose team I was privileged to serve, we will put on our ballistic vests, badge, and gun, kiss our loved one's goodbye, for some tragically for the last time, and out into a shift of uncertainty we will go," Amos wrote in his letter.

"We will continue to protect and continue to serve and we will be standing at attention Colin, not just for the playing of our National Anthem, but far more importantly for the playing of Taps," he concluded.