Colin Kaepernick receives death threats for refusing to stand for national anthem in solidarity with black people

The NFL player has come under strong criticism and even violent threats for using his platform to protest racial injustice

Kaepernick has started a movement which includes other teams and footballer Megan Rapinoe (Getty)

American football player Colin Kaepernick says he has received death threats for his refusal to stand and sing the national anthem to show solidarity with the plight of black people in the US.

Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, first staged a silent protest during the Star-Spangled Banner before a preseason game in August against the Green Bay Packers. He has continued to sit or kneel on the ground during the anthem for games since, saying he will stand when the American flag represents "what it's supposed to represent".

He said the police shooting of black man Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as he held his hands above his head, was a "perfect example" of what Kaepernick has been protesting.

"It will be very telling about what happens to the officer that killed him. They shot and killed a man and walked around like it wasn't a human being," he said, according to the BBC.

The player said if any threats he had received were acted upon, he said it would "prove [his] point".

"I find it very hard that people don't understand what's going on. I think the message has been out there loud and clear for quite some time now."

The athlete who Donald Trump called to leave the country also said he was aware of the potential polarising effect after he first carried out his boycott.

"I knew there were other things that came along with this when I first stood up and spoke about it. It's not something I haven't thought about," he said.

President Obama weighed in on the debate, saying it was his "constitutional right to protest".

Fellow sports players including 49ers teammate Eric Reid knelt by his side in one game while LA player Kenny Britt and Robert Quimm raised their fists during the anthem as the NFL season started.

Several players from the Miami Dolphins have joined in the protest, but the police union has asked deputies not to escort players until they are all standing to sing.

Megan Rapinoe, the national football midfielder who filed a lawsuit with four teammates for equal pay, has also shown support for Kaepernick.

Kaepernick said he would donate $1 million to local communities over the next 10 months, and will set up a website to show where his monthly $100,000 is spent to be "transparent”.

He has received the support of numerous high school teams who have staged their own version of protests. One team of youths in Texas said they had received death threats too.