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Jemele Hill Rips Newly Drafted NFL Player for Not Knowing His Tattoo Was Associated with White Supremacy

Jemele Hill wants to know how a white supremacist could be let into the NFL but not Colin Kaepernick. 

Hill recently sent a tweet about a tattoo that was seen on the left arm of Justin Rohrwasser, a kicker who was picked by the New England Patriots in the NFL draft on Saturday, April 25.

Jemele Hill called out NFL kicker for having a tattoo that’s associated with white supremacy. (Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images)

The tattoo shows a logo of a right-wing organization called Three Percenters, which the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center call an anti-government group.

Some members of Three Percenters have acted as security at alt-right rallies as well, including the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

Rohrwasser’s tattoo shows the Roman numeral III surrounded by stars. He claimed he’d gotten it as a teenager and thought it was a symbol that meant support for the military.

“Obviously, it evolved into something that I do not want to represent and when I look back at it, I should have done way more research before I put any mark or symbol on my body,” he told reporters during a conference call. “It is not something I ever want to represent, so it will be covered.”

Photo: Twitter

Hill first sent a tweet about Rohrwasser and his tattoo on April 25, then sent more messages the following day.

“Patriots kicker is a white supremacist. My bad, he tends to like white supremacist things. Carry on, nothing to see here,” she wrote.

“For those scoring at home, a white supremacist found a job in the NFL, but Colin Kaepernick isn’t welcome,” she added. “I don’t know who needs to hear this but covering up your white supremacist tattoos doesn’t really matter if you still think like a white supremacist.”

Hill shared a Twitter thread that showed Rohrwasser supporting other right-wing personalities and racist organizations. He’s since deleted his Twitter account.

Discussions broke out online after Hill sent her tweet. Many said they found Rohrwasser’s claim that he didn’t know what the tattoo meant ridiculous. There were also people who criticized Hill for calling him out.

“These #NFL owners need to be held accountable. They will hire a guy who clearly has tattoos indicating white supremacism,” read one of the tweets. “But a guy who kneels and said countless times it was about injustice can’t work again bc THAT’S what made them feel uncomfortable???”

“He claims he has family in the military and thought it symbolized support of the military,” tweeted someone else who defended Rohrwasser.

Another person wrote, “Let’s put up a poll. How many of us accidentally got a white supremacist tattoo in the last few years? Zero? Nobody did? Weird.”

Some of Rohrwasser’s former teammates at Marshall University have since defended him over the tattoo backlash, including at least one player who’s Black.

“I was completely surprised when I heard that. That can’t be right,” Marshall running back Brendan Knox, who is Black, said about Rohrwasser to a reporter for MassLive.

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