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Earthquakes’ teen defender from Pleasanton speaks out against racism

SAN JOSE — Jacob Akanyirige, a promising teenager for the Earthquakes, has joined the growing discourse over social injustice in America in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“It’ll never make sense to me why people are judged and discriminated against solely based on the color of their skin, and it doesn’t make sense why it is still happening in the world today,” Akanyirige, 18, said in a statement posted on the Earthquakes’ website.

Akanyirige, a 5-foot-11 defender from Pleasanton, signed with San Jose in 2017 as a 15-year-old Homegrown player.