WORCESTER, Mass. – A Doherty Memorial High School football players was suspended for one game after he took a knee during the National Anthem at a game last Friday.

Junior defensive back Mike Oppong refused to stand for the National Anthem during the season opener against Leominster High School on Friday, and posted about his defiance on Twitter, MassLive reports.

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“Ima pull a Colin Kaepernick and sit during the national anthem on Friday,” wrote Oppong, who goes by “BLACK LIVES MATTER” on Twitter.

On Sunday, Doherty Memorial High School coach Sean Mulcahy reportedly suspended Oppong for one game, and the 16-year-old relayed the information to his Twitter followers and created an online firestorm, Boston.com reports.

Folks like Black Lives Matter agitator turned New York Daily News columnist Shaun King, as well as Kaepernick himself, helped to spread the news about Oppong’s predicament online.

“We stand with you …,” King posted to Twitter. “It’s not right that you have been suspended for taking a knee.”

The ACLU of Massachusetts also came to his rescue.

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“In our view, they violated his rights,” ACLU of Massachusetts deputy legal director CSarah Wunsch told MassLive. “I would suggest that other members of the team would join him. It’s really important that he’s not alone in this.”

The Friday display was among numerous similar stunts carried out last week by high school football players looking to emulate 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who made waves when he refused to stand during the National Anthem during the preseason to protest police brutality.

Kaepernick’s antics convinced numerous other NFL players to do the same, and high schoolers in Norfolk, Virginia, Little Rock, Arkansas, Camden, New Jersey and other places are following suit, EAGnews reports.

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Oppong “said he was inspired by Colin Kaepernick,” according to Boston.com. “Oppong, who is black, said he is protesting not just police inequality but racism in general, which he says is pervasive.”

His protest, of course, drew scorn from many online who feel the protest is disrespectful to those in the U.S. Armed Forces who risk their lives for the freedom the National Anthem represents, though Oppong responded to those criticisms on Sunday, as the nation mourned lives lost in the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

“I have 100% respect for the veterans and the people who lost their lives on 9/11,” Oppong posted to Twitter, “this whole thing isn’t about them.”

Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Maureen Binienda told the news site that Oppong was not suspended, but rather his coach told him, “I don’t know what will happen” as a result of his protest, “but be prepared to sit one game.”

School officials researched student protest rights and reviewed the situation on Monday, Binieda said, which made it “very clear that (protesting) is their constitutional right and no discipline can follow.”

School officials told the Worchester Telegram they’re not monitoring Oppong’s Twitter account after he received threatening messages over the protest.

“We have to treat this as a bullying situation,” district safety director Robert Pezzela said.

Binienda said she will meet with Worcester coaches to review the rules governing student protests, and while coaches can ask players to stand for the National Anthem, they can’t force them to or punish them if they don’t.

About half of the players on the Doherty Memorial High School football team now plan to join Oppong in his protest in upcoming games, senior Joseph Bolay told the Telegram.

“All of us on the team fully support Michael,” he said. “We want to show that we’re behind him 100 percent.”