Two referees decided they were FED Up! with the kneeling protest during the national anthem so they walked off…This news comes out of New Jersey…We hope it spreads like wildfire!
Two high school football officials walked off the field in protest Friday night after players from Monroe High School in Middlesex County knelt during the national anthem before the team’s game against visiting Colts Neck.
The refs were father and son: 54-year-old Ernie Lunardelli and 27-year-old Anthony Lunardelli. Both referees stood during the national anthem have walked off the field when they saw the Monroe players kneeling.
Ernie said that he was not in favor of people disrespecting the flag, the U.S., or the armed forces. Lunardelli claimed that the issues the football players were protesting had nothing to do with the national anthem and that he was against the kneeling protest, so he decided to protest the protest by walking out.
Ernie allegedly gave a warning to the Greater Middlesex Conference official assigner that the ref would leave the game if any football players knelt during the national anthem.
“Whoever is disrespecting that flag and the national anthem, that’s who I have a problem with,” Ernie said. “That’s my protest. I don’t care if it’s a baby, if it’s an 80-year-old man, anybody. I don’t care. Any race, color, I don’t care who it is. It’s not the way I was brought up and it pisses me off that people are doing that.”
Ernie, meanwhile, said he and his son were unassigned from working Saturday’s game between Spotswood and Raritan.
After Ernie and his son left, they were replaced by two cadets who were already assigned to work on the chain crew for the game. Ernie alleged Saturday the game is not official because the cadets did not have proper certification or training.
“That game should not count now because they did not have the right personnel on the field,” Ernie said. “These kids weren’t officially carded and trained, so they’re putting the kids in jeopardy, I’m not.”
Ernie already has his lawyer on hand to fight the game.
“I have a lawyer already set up because they’re not going to run me out of town,” Ernie said.
Watch the video below for more details:
Source: AWM