Colin Kaepernick Reveals What Sparked His Activism

In the article, he shared that the shooting and death of Mario Woods in 2015 is what triggered him and inspired him to become an activist. Wood’s was 26-years-old and shot 21 times by five cops in San Francisco, on Dec. 2, 2015.

Kaep’s girlfriend, Nessa, told Paper that after the incident, “If Colin wasn’t reviewing a playbook, he was reading a history book.”

Kaepernick didn’t start kneeling during the national anthem until August 2016, 8 months after Woods was killed. The former NFL player began Know Your Rights Camp in 2016 as well, a youth empowerment initiative, traveling around the country with volunteers like Taraji P. Henson and Eric Reid. 

According to TMZ, “cops confronted Woods, who was holding a knife, after reports of a nearby stabbing.” Cops began to use non-lethal bean bag rounds, when opened fire with live ammo when they claimed he started to get aggressive and was a threat. 

However, cellphone footage captured appeared to contradict the police and showed Woods in a non-threatening manner standing against the wall while holding the knife at his side. 

Citizens felt that Wood’s was killed unjustly by SFPD. The officers responsible for the shooting were never charged with a crime.

Woods’ family sued the City of San Francisco and received a $400,000 settlement for Mario’s wrongful death.