A former Minnesota "Teacher of the Year" recently staged a silent protest at a college football championship game and took a knee during the national anthem, right in front of President Trump.
According to ABC News, Kelly Holstine was part of a group of other educators being honored as top teachers in the country.
But Holstine dropped to one knee to stand up for “marginalized and oppressed people."
Also in attendance were President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who took to the field during the opening ceremonies.
This provided Holstine the perfect opportunity to make her point directly at Trump himself.
Holstine's kneel mirrored that of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who famously took a knee in 2016 to protest police brutality against black Americans.
Trump has publicly attacked him for it, at one point tweeting,
"If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do!"
"Like many before, I respectfully kneeled during Nat'l Anthem because, 'No one is free until we all are free' (MLK)," the Minnesota English teacher wrote.
She also included a photo of herself kneeling at the game as well as a shot of Trump and Melania standing on the same field.
In April 2019, she and another top educator boycotted a ceremony at the Oval Office to receive their honor from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
"The words and practices and policies of this administration have been filled with a lot of hate toward the LGBTQ community, so I didn't feel comfortable in that environment," Holstine told The Hill.
