By WPRO News and The Associated Press

North Smithfield is considering asking municipal departments to refrain from purchasing Nike products, but the Rhode Island ACLU is saying “just don’t do it.” The Town Council plans Monday to discuss a resolution that would make the request of the school committee and town departments.

Council President John Beauregard, a former state police trooper, is upset with Nike’s decision to use former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in an ad campaign. Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and social injustice.

“We believe it would be a clear violation of the First Amendment and the taxpayers would end up having to foot the bill for trying to do this,” the ACLU’s Executive Director Steven Brown told WPRO’s Tara Granahan. “To say ‘we are not going to do business with you because we don’t like your political views’ is just a blatant violation of basic First Amendment principles. That’s not how government can operate.”

Brown said approval of the measure could lead to a slippery slope.

“You can have local residents selling things and suddenly they’re not allowed to bid on products because they’re Republican or because they’re Democrat. There’s no stopping it if you accept this principle that the town can decide what products it buys based on political views,” Brown said.

The ACLU also suggests the measure shows “insensitivity” to the issues being protested by Kaepernick. WPRO has requested further comment from Beauregard.

Listen to ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown discuss with WPRO’s Tara Granahan below: