On the same day NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement asking all players, owners and coaches to not kneel for the national anthem before games, 16 people took a knee for the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the San Diego City Council meeting on Tuesday.

The protest elicited no comment from councilmembers.

Rev. Shane Harris, one of those who took a knee said to reporters,"You look around the country at the racial divide, it's a huge issue."

Harris, who is with the the San Diego chapter of the National Action Network, is also part of a coalition demanding Republican City Councilman Chris Cate resign following a confidential memo scandal, as reported on IVN San Diego.

Harris said the group's protest also aimed to support Raymond Wylie, a 67-year-old man who has filed a claim against the city for an arrest he said was racially motivated. Wylie told reporters he was arrested on suspicion of carrying a lead pipe and burglary during a morning walk last July.

He said he spent nearly 24 hours behind bars but was never actually charged.