In New York City, more than 1,000 people rallied in support of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick outside the National Football League headquarters in Manhattan Wednesday. Last season, Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality against African Americans. His actions sparked similar protests across the NFL and other professional sports leagues. He has yet to be signed by an NFL team for the upcoming season, which many believe is a retaliation for his activism. This is 15-year-old Luis Franco speaking during Wednesday’s protest.

Luis Franco: “My name is Luis. I’m here to watch the protest of Colin Kaepernick being whiteballed out of the NFL for taking a knee. There’s a lot of black people being killed with no justice. And they say justice for all. We’re all Americans. We all live here in America. He’s taking a knee for the people that are not getting any justice. And for the NFL to take him out and tell him that he’s not allowed to play, I think, is wrong. I play football myself for my town, my city, and I think what’s going on is wrong. I don’t think that he should have been in any trouble for taking the knee. I understand why he took the knee. I understand his reason for the knee. I would have done the same thing if I was in his position.”