A Group of UNC Students Sit During National Anthem Prior to Pitt-UNC Football Game

This was the second week in a row that several UNC students have sat down during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner at UNC's Kenan Memorial Stadium.

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The National Anthem sedentary protests continue to resonate beyond the NFL and into the college and high school ranks.

In the wake of this week's police shooting of Keith Scott on Tuesday in Charlotte, a group of University of North Carolina students made a glaring political statement this afternoon prior to the Pittsburgh-UNC football game. They collectively sat through the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, and raised their fists to the sky as a symbol of solidarity for their protest against the anthem. The majority of the students who sat near a front end of UNC's Kenan Memorial Stadium were black, but there were also some white students who joined them.

This isn't the first instance of UNC students sitting during the National Anthem. Last Saturday (Sept. 17) against James Madison University, several Tar Heel students sat during the National Anthem as well, according to Raleigh, N.C. television station WTVD.

This trend among college sit-downs during the National Anthem has become somewhat of a domino effect as more political strife festers from the police shooting deaths of black males. Also, an estimated 125 Texas State University students sat down during the National Anthem during their game against Houston on Saturday.

The shooting of Keith Lamont Scott has set off a series of protests from UNC-Charlotte students this past week. On Wednesday, over 300 students gathered within the UNC-Charlotte campus student union building for a "die-in" or "lay-in" protest against police brutality following the death of Scott. The protest was organized by the university's black student union.

 Scott was shot and killed by a black police officer Brentley Vinson, and was mistaken to have a gun on him by other Charlotte-Mecklenburg County police officers when he was approached by police. Scott's wife released video footage of the shooting to the media on Friday. Since the shooting occurred, political unrest has ensued in the greater Charlotte area, including one death of protester Justin Carr by police. North Carolina governor Pat McCrory has declared a state of emergency as well as a midnight curfew for the city of Charlotte.

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