Ethan Reese
Bang, Bang, Bang — are some of the first sounds heard in the trailer for Killing County, a new documentary series from ABC News Studios executive produced by divisive activist quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who is taking aim at Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy with the production.
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Kaepernick tweeted the trailer for the series yesterday, saying it was a “True crime thriller we made set in Kevin McCarthy’s district”:
The three episode series, now partially available on Hulu, details the case of Jorge Ramirez Jr., a man killed in 2013 during a police-involved incident even though he was a secret informant for them.
It also focuses on Damacio Diaz, a Bakersfield police detective who was sentenced to five years in prison in October 2016 for stealing drugs and putting them back on the street, a storyline that reminds of HBO’s recent limited series We Own This City from David Simon, formerly of The Wire.
“Killing County is a story of twists and turns, alleged corruption and cover-up. Raising the question: who do you turn to when the ones who are supposed to serve and protect you are the ones you can’t trust?” a summary on People reads.
It is just the latest production from Kaepernick, who appears to be making quite a career out of activism. He first gained notoriety in 2016, when as the quarterback for the 49ers he knelt during the playing of the pre-game national anthem, and he later likened the NFL’s draft process to slavery in his Netflix series ‘Colin in Black & White’.
He was also featured in a Nike advertising campaign that appeared to suggest he had sacrificed his football playing career for his activism, where he is pictured close up saying, “Believe in something. Even if means sacrificing everything”, which critics were quick to mock, pointing out that his days of playing quarterback at the professional level were already long behind him.
All this comes as decidedly progressive political productions for mainstream audiences continue to struggle with ratings, like Disney’s Lightyear, while apolitical productions like Tom Cruise’s Top Gun and Chris Pratt’s Terminal List are smash hits.
Whether or not Kaepernick’s niche partisan production will pull ratings and subscriptions remains to be seen.
