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Navy Investigating 'Target' Used in K9 Attack Demo

Military dogs went after man dressed as Colin Kaepernick at National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 3, 2020 8:43 AM CDT
Navy Investigating 'Target' Used in K9 Attack Demo
Colin Kaepernick is seen at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. on Oct. 11, 2018.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

In addition to US service members, military dogs are sent onto battlefields to help defeat foes, and a demonstration last year at a Florida nonprofit was meant to show how that's done. But video has now emerged of that demo in Fort Pierce at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum, with the so-called target used to draw the K9 attackers attracting both controversy and an investigation by the Naval Special Warfare Command, the Washington Post reports. As seen in the first clip now circulating on social media, four dogs leap one by one onto a man called "Josh" by the announcer, clamping down on his padded arms and doing their job at subduing him. What's spurring the backlash, however, is what else Josh is wearing: a red Colin Kaepernick jersey.

In a second video, Josh is seen taken down by a dog and mock-moaning, "Oh man, I will stand," which brings laughter from the crowd, per Yahoo Sports. It's not yet clear who recorded the video of the demo, which was originally posted on Instagram in January 2019 in now-deleted posts, with one caption noting the Kaepernick stand-in was set upon by the dogs for "not standing during the national anthem." BuzzFeed News notes the videos went viral after filmmaker Billy Corben shared them. "The inherent message of this video is completely inconsistent with the values and ethos of Naval Special Warfare and the US Navy," the Navy said in a statement, noting it so far doesn't appear any active Navy personnel were involved in the event, or that any Navy equipment was used during the demo. The museum is not managed by the Navy. (More Navy stories.)

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