North Smithfield Town Council Votes For Town Employee Nike Ban

NORTH SMITHFIELD, RI — After more than an hour of public debate, the North Smithfield Town Council voted 3-2 to formally request that all town employees not buy Nike products.

Many came to the meeting to speak against the non-binding proposal, including some members of the school committee.

“We as a town have so many prominent issues to deal with,” said School Committee Member Arthur Bassett. “Frankly, spending time on this tonight is just asinine.”

School Committee Member Paul Jones also came out against the suggested ban. He said such a measure sets a dangerous precedent, no matter the intention.

“Whatever your political inclinations, whatever your beliefs about the Nike controversy, we must not lose sight of the fact that we communicate much with our actions,” Jones said. “I believe a vote for this measure is, intended or not, going to send a message to our students that it is acceptable for government to punish speech it may not like or agree with.”

Town Council President John Beauregard, a former state trooper, told the Associated Press he is upset with Nike's decision to use former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in advertisements after he and other NFL players kneeled during the national anthem before games. Kaepernick and others have said they were protesting the killing of unarmed black men by police across the country.

Beauregard said during Monday's meeting he supports the rights of football players to kneel during the national anthem. What he has a problem with is anti-police speech.

"This is not about kneeling during the anthem,” Beauregard told the Providence Journal. “This is about the disrespect Kaepernick has shown toward the police. For Nike to sponsor him perpetuates this lie that police are racist, that they are out to keep people of color down."

The ACLU of Rhode Island urged the North Smithfield Town Council not to vote for this measure. They said the council could be held liable for violating the First Amendment.

"A government agency simply cannot ban the purchase of products from a company based solely on its political views," the ACLU of Rhode Island said in a letter to the Town Council. “Leaving aside any legal issues, passage of the resolution would display a tremendous insensitivity to the demonstrable racial inequality in our society that Kaepernick’s protest sought to highlight. "

Two towns in Louisiana and Mississippi had public officials seek similar measures.

Photo credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Staff