A man was seen kneeling while the national anthem played during a White House ceremony organized by President Trump after he disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles from the traditional championship celebration on Tuesday. The unidentified man was spotted kneeling during national anthem at Trump’s “Celebration of America.” He left after the anthem ended and did not comment to press, a Danish reporter who was at the event tweeted. Video footage of the man shows him getting up after the anthem ends. The man’s kneeling protest comes amid the on-going controversy over whether NFL players can kneel during the national anthem in protest of police brutality. In May, the NFL said it would fine players who choose to kneel on the field during the anthem. The White House event on Tuesday was held in place of a traditional ceremony where the president welcomes that year’s Super Bowl champions. After several Philadelphia Eagles players said they would not attend the celebration, citing Trump’s consistent criticism of athletes who kneel in protest, Trump said he was disinviting them due to their disagreement with him. Trump has frequently tweeted criticism of athletes and NFL players who kneel, painting them as unpatriotic and calling for them to be fired. Get our Politics Newsletter. The headlines out of Washington never seem to slow. Subscribe to The D.C. Brief to make sense of what matters most. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . 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Sunday, September 26th (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) broadcasting on CBS and available to stream live and on demand with Paramount+ or the CBS app.<doc-sep>With Donald Trump standing nearby, a man knelt on the White House lawn as the US national anthem played, in an apparent protest against the president's feud with NFL players doing the same thing at the start of games. Mr Trump has long railed against players who kneel during the anthem to protest against racial injustice, insisting on the need for Americans to stand up for the anthem to honour men and women who have died in the military. "We stand to show our love for our fellow citizens and our magnificent Constitution," he said, before the NFL banned the practice last month. After a number of Philadelphia Eagles said they would boycott a White House event in honour of the Super Bowl champions, the president held a “Celebration of America” ceremony at the White House instead. But in an apparent show of solidarity with many black US athletes, the unidentified man was filmed taking a knee during a rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” as Mr Trump stood on stage with his hand on his heart. The 16-second video showed the man kneeling, before standing up and applauding as the anthem comes to an end. Many of what appeared to be an almost exclusively white audience waved miniature American flags during the song. However, another man was also pictured kneeling behind a cordon on the South Lawn as guests behind him stood and held their hands to their hearts. A crowd gathered nearby also shouted at Mr Trump, telling him to “stop hiding behind the armed services and the national anthem”. Others jeered the US leader and told him to “go away”. The event was also notable for Mr Trump’s apparent forgetfulness regarding the lyrics to “God Bless America”. During a rendition of the song, he stopped singing and nodded along to the beat instead. After Mr Trump’s cancelled the Super Bowl event, basketball players LeBron James, of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Stephen Curry, of the Golden State Warriors, said they had agreed that whichever team wins the NBA championship would boycott the traditional visit to the White House. ✕ Trump appears to forget the lyrics to 'God Bless America' Tensions remain high around the NFL protests that began in 2016 when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began silently kneeling on the sidelines while the anthem played. He said his protest was an effort to raise awareness around systemic racism and, specifically, the killing of black men by police. He was soon joined by teammate Eric Reid. Both players have filed grievances against the NFL and have not been signed by any team since their contracts with the 49ers expired. Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt."<doc-sep>
WASHINGTON — Instead of welcoming the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House on Tuesday, President Trump held an event to "celebrate America" and play the national anthem. And, according to a video and photos posted to social media, at least two of the attendees at that celebration decided to take a knee. A television reporter for SVT, Sweden’s national public television broadcaster, posted a video of the event Tuesday in which a man in a light-blue shirt is kneeling as the United States Marine Band plays The Star-Spangled Banner. The man, who could not immediately be identified by USA TODAY Sports, applauds and stands as the song ends. Jesper Zølck of TV 2 Denmark reported that the man left shortly after kneeling and did not give his name nor say anything. A CNN reporter later posted a picture of a second man and reported that he kneeled during the anthem before yelling at Trump, which drew boos from other attendees nearby. The second man also could not be immediately identified. The playing of the national anthem was followed by brief remarks from Trump, who spoke for about three minutes about the importance of standing for the national anthem. Trump did not mention the Eagles or the NFL in his remarks, but he said the event was “even bigger than we had anticipated.” The United States Army Chorus then sang God Bless America. Trump mouthed portions of the song but did not sing it word-for-word — which later prompted criticism and jokes on Twitter. More:Sarah Sanders says Eagles pulled 'political stunt,' Trump refuses questions at event MORE:Fox News apologizes after Eagles' Zach Ertz blasts national anthem 'propaganda' MORE:Donald Trump rips NFL's anthem policy in tweets: 'NFL, no escaping to Locker Rooms!' The crowd at Tuesday’s event was largely clad in suits and professional attire, though a few fans were seen wearing Eagles gear. Earlier Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders blamed the Eagles for the last-minute change and referred to it as “a political stunt” by the organization. Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.