Hours after their colleagues on other teams took a knee during the national anthem, Casey Short and Julie Ertz did the same.
Short and Ertz shared uniquely raw emotion on Saturday night, right before their Chicago Red Stars faced the Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League Challenge Cup.
You can see the moment above, as captured by Associated Press photographer Rick Bowmer, and also below as presented by the NWSL:
Short, a Black woman, being supported in close quarters by her teammate Ertz, a white woman and team captain. Both kneeling during the anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.