Mississippi sheriff compares Colin Kaepernick to Osama Bin Laden in Facebook post

A Marshall County, Mississippi sheriff is under fire after he shared a photo that compared former NFL player Colin Kaepernick to Osama Bin Laden, the co-founder of the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda.

Marshall County Constable Don Cothern re-posted a photo on his own Facebook account that shows an image of the terrorist next to an image of the former 49ers quarterback and includes the text, "If Bin Laden had a son."

Kaepernick made headlines during his time as a professional football player for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality, a move which some have called unpatriotic.

Photo: WREG

But despite the controversy that has surrounded Kaepernick's career, Marshall County resident Albert Griffin told WREG that he believes Cothern's comparison "doesn't fit at all, as far as I'm concerned."

"[Kaepernick] is trying to do something to keep people from treating people wrong," Griffin told the station. "[Bin Laden] is a terrorist."

WREG reached out to multiple Marshall County officials who told the station they are unable to comment on the matter since the post was shared on Cothern's personal account.

Cothern responded to the controversy on Wednesday with a lengthy post on his Facebook page, calling the public outcry over the photo a "political move."

"Well, as I'm sitting in the ER, I see that I made the Chanel 3 news, for a Facebook post that I re shared, well over a week ago, last time I checked, we in America had freedom of speech," he wrote. "I am a TRUE American and I firmly believe that you should stand for our National Anthem, not kneel, so if I offended anyone, I'm sorry. But I also know this is a Political move, since our county election is right around the corner. Yes, I am still the Constable and I am very thankful that the Lord has blessed me to continue to serve, while also doing dialysis for the last 5 years. People that know me, know that there is not a racist bone in my body."