Seahawks’ Bennett alleges police abuse

LOS ANGELES: Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett on Wednesday accused police in Las Vegas of racism and excessive force after a gunpoint confrontation following the recent Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight.

In a post on Twitter titled “Equality,” Bennett detailed how he was detained by police following the Aug 26 fight as a crowd scattered after hearing what was feared to be gunshots.

Bennett, who has spoken out in support of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s anthem protests over police brutality, said he was targeted by law enforcement because of his ethnicity.

“Like many of the people in the area I ran away from the sound, looking for safety,” Bennett wrote.

“Las Vegas police officers singled me out and pointed their guns at me for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Bennett said that after obeying an instruction by a police officer to get on the ground, the same officer held a gun to his head and warned he would “blow my fucking head off.”

“Terrified and confused by what was taking place, a second officer came over and forcefully jammed his knee into my back making it difficult for me to breathe,” he added. “They then cinched handcuffs on my wrists so tight that my fingers went numb.”

At a press conference later Wednesday, Las Vegas Metro Police Department undersheriff Kevin McMahill rejected Bennett’s claim of racial profiling.

“I can tell you I see no evidence that race played any role in this incident,” McMahill said as he confirmed an internal investigation was under way.

Although Las Vegas police are required to wear body cameras, the officer who confronted Bennett did not have his switched on.

“I don’t know why that was, but that will be part of the investigation,” McMahill said.

In his statement on Twitter, Bennett said he had feared death during the incident.

“All I could think of was ‘I’m going to die for no other reason than I am black and my skin colour is somehow a threat,” Bennett wrote.

He said he was later released after officers “apparently realised I was not a thug, common criminal or ordinary black man but Michael Bennett, a famous professional football player.”

Bennett said the incident made him even more determined to sit during renditions of the national anthem, “because equality doesn’t live in this country.”

Bennett said he had retained a lawyer with a view to launching civil litigation.