Man shoots son at Thanksgiving in dispute over kneeling NFL players

CARY, N.C. — Police in North Carolina say a man shot and wounded his son on Thanksgiving after a heated fight about NFL athletes kneeling during the national anthem.

Cary police say 21-year-old Esteban Marley Valencia and his brother argued during dinner about the athletes’ protest of racial injustice. News outlets report 51-year-old Jorge Luis Valencia-Lamadrid told officers Valencia then physically attacked his other son, so he retrieved a shotgun.

Valencia-Lamadrid said Valencia started throwing furniture and hit him in the face with a water bottle. He said he had been holding the gun by its pistol grip and squeezed the trigger. Valencia was hit in the hand and leg. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Valencia-Lamadrid was arrested and charged with aggravated assault. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer.