A dozen or so activists braved the cold and marched from the Wexner Center at 15th and High Street to the opening of the OSU football stadium on Saturday, October 28 to “Take a knee to stand with Kaepernick.”

The reason for the rally was “On October 16, 2017 Shelley Meyer made it very clear that she does not support Colin Kaepernick and his fight against police brutality towards POC. For those who don't know, Shelley is OSU football coach Urban Meyer's wife. When 10TV news posted a tweet about Kaepernick filing grievances against the NFL, she responded "What-ever. He made his choices."It is absolutely unacceptable for the wife of a football coach to condemn the actions of the NFL and "take a knee." We must stand (better yet kneel) in solidarity with Kaepernick where it needs done the most. The Shoe. The Meyer's need to know that we do not accept Shelley and her negative reaction to Kaepernick, and we certainly do not accept her half hearted apology she posted later.”

Behind a banner that read “Black Lives Matter,” the group marched up High Street to be greeted by drunken Buckeye fans who intermittently chanted “All lives matter!” and “Fuck Penn State!” without a hint of irony. Several members of the crowd flashed a fist or provided a fist bump to the protestors, including a few potential African American Buckeye basketball recruits.

After arriving at the Horseshoe, the demonstrators displayed signs documenting the Columbus police as the number one killers of black males among major U.S. cities. The Free Press reporter overheard the Ohio State police on horseback asking their superiors if they needed to use their horses to move the protestors. The superior officer, instead, indicated that they would protect the rights of the protestors and if there were any problems, they would simply ask them to move if there was reason to do so.

The vast majority of Buckeye supporters ignored or tolerated the protest and repeatedly raised their chant of “O-H-I-O!” Most of the protestors wore Kaepernick jerseys or had taped a red “7” on the back of a black to show their support for the blacklisted quarterback. Kaepernick had been banished from the NFL by the owners because he had the audacity to kneel during the national anthem at football games to call attention to police brutality against black people in the U.S.

Just prior to kick-off, the activists went down on one knee and called out the names of local black males who have been killed by the Columbus police and ended after three hours with a die-in.