Jaguars players, front office staff, their families and friends raised their voices with others across the nation Friday when they marched in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
WJCT News partner News4Jax reported a crowd of about 300 demonstrators met up in front of TIAA Bank Field, most wearing black-and-white Black Lives Matter T-shirts.
They walked from the stadium to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office headquarters Downtown in a show of solidarity.
WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union reported Jaguars player Chris Conley told the crowd, “Protests like this one and peaceful protests across the country are fighting for our Constitution and fighting for our democracy.”
The march was part of a now worldwide movement for criminal justice reform following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers and the delayed arrests of three men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Ga.
Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone said, “I couldn’t have been more proud of these men.”
The march by Jacksonville’s NFL team follows an editorial written by Jaguars owner Shad Khan that WJCT News and other news outlets ran this week.
Khan wrote in part, “I know change is possible,” adding, “My overarching goal, or mission, is to do my part to level the playing field so everyone has the same access and opportunity to achieve the American Dream, without fear or compromise.”
You can read Khan’s editorial here.
This isn't the first time the Jaguars have taken a stand during times of social unrest.
Unity pic.twitter.com/wSNsc4BSEV
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 24, 2017
In 2017, the team locked arms and some kneeled down during the playing of the U.S. national anthem in London. Khan joined the team in locking arms as a response to President Donald Trump's ciriticism of NFL players who had been kneeling duirng games to protest police brutality and racism.
For additional story coverage about Friday’s Jaguars march visit WJCT News partners News4Jax and Jacksonville.com.
