Did Conservatives And Trump Contribute To The Chaos By Freaking Out About Symbolic Kneeling?

Maybe.

   My stated view is that kneeling during the national anthem is a respectful, permissible form of protest.

   Kaepernick was wrong because BLM is wrong--police are not committing racially-motivated mass-murder against black men in America. 

   But, though false, it's no less reasonable than all sorts of American political views. The view is within the realm of reason, and the form of protest is permissible. So, though it's the sort of thing you ought to try to talk people out of, it's not the sort of view that should provoke the kind of intemperate hostility we saw from Trump. Certainly the President needs to just say something like: I disagree, but he's within his rights. 

   Which, incidentally, is what a President should have said about Unite the Right. And, as it turns out, Unite the Right caused less harm than BLM has caused. (Except insofar as UtR helped BLM.) 

   At any rate: it's possible that we'd all be better off if Trump and conservatives had been less unfriendly toward Kaepernick and symbolic kneeling.

   Though, honestly, I kinda doubt it. I'm not sure anything could have slowed down this train.