Virginia Beach Restaurant Tapes Colin Kaepernick's Jersey to the Floor as a Foot Mat

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — One man is encouraging people to boycott a Virginia Beach restaurant after he saw San Francisco 49ers football player Colin Kaepernick's jersey taped to the floor in the restaurant's entrance--presumably so people would walk on it.

Kaepernick made national headlines recently when he started kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem instead of standing with his hand over his heart in what he calls a form of protest over the racism and persecution of black people in the U.S.

While some say the action is Kaepernick's constitutional right to free speech, others say it is disrespectful and has no place in professional sports.

On Saturday, James Perry posted a photo to Facebook of Kaepernick's jersey taped to the floor inside the entrance of Krossroads bar, located in the Pleasant Valley shopping center in Virginia Beach, Va.

Perry expressed his disgust over the restaurant's actions and said that, regardless of whether people agree with Kaepernick's protest, he says the football player should not be "villianized" for expressing his constitutional right.

"[Kaepernick] didn't hit his wife, didn't rape nobody, didn't get caught abusing drugs, or get charged and cleared for murdering two people. Oh, and he didn't shoot any unarmed citizens!" Perry wrote. "But yet his jersey is being used as a foot mat."

"Racism is real, people, and yes, this is a racist act--an overall disgusting one," he continued. "Boycott this [racist] bar!"

So far, Perry's post has been shared more than 5,000 times.

WTKR news spoke with the general manager of Krossroads.

"He told us taping the jersey down was about sportsmanship and Kaepernick's disrespect of the flag - not race," WTKR reported.

Regardless, Perry said he will not visit Kroassroads again, despite the fact he was previously a longtime customer. He is encouraging others to boycott the establishment as well.

Image via Shutterstock