Gwen Berry Claps Back At Claims She Hates America After National Anthem Protest

Hammer thrower Gwen Berry is setting the record straight after being accused of hating America by conservatives.

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The controversy started after the national anthem played while Berry was up on the podium with two other top competitors during the recent Olympic trials. Not expecting the song at the time, Berry, who is Black, turned away from the flag and held up a shirt reading “Activist Athlete.”

Athletes declining to stand for or otherwise address the flag during the national anthem has become a symbol of protest against racial discrimination and violence by police. But it’s also become the fastest way to draw conservative ire, and it wasn’t long before Republicans on Twitter were leading the charge to have Berry stripped of her Olympic opportunity.

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“We don’t need anymore activist athletes,” Dan Crenshaw said on Fox News. “They should be removed.”

Meanwhile, Ted Cruz used it as an opportunity to question “Why does the Left hate America?” — as if police brutality and racism is an issue that only effects people with left-leaning politics and that protesting it equates to a hatred of the entire country.

Why does the Left hate America?

Sure, we have our faults, but no nation in the history of the world has liberated more people from captivity, has lifted more out of poverty, has bled more for freedom, or has blessed more w/ abundance.

God bless America. https://t.co/7hH1FMzEn0

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 28, 2021

Berry wasn’t interested in the grandstanding happening by these politicians and their acolytes, and didn’t let them jump to extreme conclusions without pushing back.

“I never said I hated this country!” she pointed out. “People try to put words in my mouth but they can’t.”

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Thank you! I never said I hated this country! People try to put words in my mouth but they can’t. That’s why I speak out. I LOVE MY PEOPLE. https://t.co/fbKB5d9H2I

— Gwen Berry OLY (@MzBerryThrows) June 28, 2021

These comments really show that:

1.) people in American rally patriotism over basic morality

2.) Even after the murder of George Floyd and so many others; the commercials, statements, and phony sentiments regarding black lives were just a hoax

— Gwen Berry OLY (@MzBerryThrows) June 28, 2021

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Berry had also previously wondered if she was “set up” to cause a controversy.

She has protested the national anthem from the podium before, back in 2019, resulting in the International Olympics Committee temporarily banning “political statements” before deciding to allow kneeling.

During the Olympic trials, the national anthem plays once a day, and Berry wasn’t expecting it to happen while she was up on the podium this time around.

“I was pissed, to be honest,” she said. “They had enough opportunities to play the national anthem before we got up there. I was thinking about what I should do. Eventually I stayed there and I swayed, I put my shirt over my head.”

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*First Published: June 29, 2021, 7:46 am