Seattle Seahawks player Michael Bennett claimed in a press release and Twitter statement this morning that two Las Vegas police officers profiled, assaulted and threatened him after he attended a boxing match last month.
Bennett has retained legal representation and is considering a federal civil rights lawsuit, according to a statement released to press by California civil rights attorney John Burris. Burris has been involved in a number of high-profile police abuse cases, including representing Rodney King, Tupac Shakur and the family of Oscar Grant.
Burris’ statement called on Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to “immediately” release body camera footage from the August 26 incident and the names of the two officers involved. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to The Stranger‘s request for comment.
In his message posted on Twitter, Bennett said he was walking back to his hotel from the Mayweather-McGregor fight when he heard gunshots and ran to find safety. At one point, Bennet said, Las Vegas police officers pointed their guns at him and ordered him to get on the ground. One officer allegedly placed a gun near Bennett head and said that if he moved, the officer would “blow my fucking head off.” Another officer allegedly “forcefully jammed his knee into my back.”
“My life flashed before my eyes as I thought of my girls,” Bennett wrote. “Would I ever play with them again? Or watch them have kids? Or be ale to kiss my wife again and tell her I love her?”
Bennett said he repeatedly asked the officers, “What did I do?” He claims the officers sat him in the back of a police car “for what felt like an eternity” before they realized who he is and let him go.
“The system failed me,” he wrote. “I can only imagine what Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Charleena Lyles felt.”
TMZ obtained footage of the incident, which shows Bennett lying face down on the ground as an officer cuffs him behind his back. Bennett can be heard saying, “I wasn’t doing nothing. I was here with my friends. They told us to get out, everybody ran.” The video, which some may find disturbing, does not show what happens prior to the cuffing:
Bennett is known for being politically outspoken. After the white nationalist violence that took place in Charlottesville last month, he sat down during the national anthem before a pre-season game, an act of protest that recalled the actions of Colin Kaepernick last year. Bennett has said he will continue to sit during the anthem.
Read Bennett’s full account of the encounter here:
Equality. pic.twitter.com/NQ4pJt94AZ
— Michael Bennett (@mosesbread72) September 6, 2017
This post has been updated to include video of Bennett’s arrest from TMZ.
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