NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick told attendees at the annual Alcatraz Island Thanksgiving Indigenous Peoples' Sunrise Gathering in San Francisco that he identified with their struggle for social justice.

“I realize that our fight is the same fight, we’re all fighting for our justice, for our freedom,” Kaepernick said Thursday in remarks recorded in a video shared on social media. “Realizing that we’re in this fight together makes us all the more powerful.”

Today, I was on Alcatraz Island at the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering, in solidarity with those celebrating their culture and paying respects to those that participated in the 19 month occupation of Alcatraz in an effort to force 🇺🇸 to honor the Treaty of Fort Laramie. pic.twitter.com/KdNtY3dp72 — Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) November 24, 2017



The gathering, organized by the International Indian Treaty Council, is a commemoration of the 1969-71 occupation of Alcatraz by the “Indians of All Tribes” in an attempt to reclaim the island.

“Today, I was on Alcatraz Island at the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering, in solidarity with those celebrating their culture and paying respects to those that participated in the 19 month occupation of Alcatraz in an effort to force [the U.S.] to honor the Treaty of Fort Laramie,” Kaepernick tweeted, along with the video.

The former San Francisco 49er, currently a free agent, rose to prominence in the national political arena in 2016 after he refused to stand during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial intolerance.