Mike Pence’s NFL ‘stunt’ cost Indianapolis police $14,000, group finds

WASHINGTON — Vice President Pence's brief trip to an Indianapolis Colts game last month cost the Indianapolis police more than $14,000, according to cost estimates the department provided to a watchdog group.

The cost of the trip has been scrutinized because Pence left the game after some of the San Francisco 49ers kneeled during the national anthem.

Critics called Pence's walkout an expensive publicity stunt.

“Vice President Pence should know better than to use taxpayer money to make a rhetorical point," said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington which requested the cost figures from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Police spent $2,736 in regular pay for 80 hours of officer time, and $11,428 in overtime pay for 223 hours of time.

Pence's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Air Force did not respond to IndyStar requests last month asking how much it costs to operate Air Force Two. But an Air Force Cost Analysis Agency put the 2016 cost at about $30,000 an hour. That does not include the cost of the multiple Secret Service agents that travel with the vice president. Congressional Democrats last month asked the Secret Service to detail that cost, but have not received a response.

Commentators have said Pence should have anticipated players would kneel because the protests started with former 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

But Pence's office has said the trip to the game — at which former star quarterback Peyton Manning was being honored — had been in the works for weeks, and predated the resurfacing of the NFL protests as an issue.

The president and vice president spoke on the day of the game about what Pence should do if players knelt, and they agreed the vice president should leave, his office has said.

After leaving, Pence said he could not "dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our flag, and our national anthem."

Players have been kneeling to raise awareness of racial inequalities in the nation.

Contact Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.

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