The Seahawks’ Michael Bennett says Las Vegas police used excessive force on him.
Former Alief Taylor star says he was held at gunpoint, assaulted after Mayweather fight
SEATTLE — Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett revealed Wednesday he was the victim of what he says was excessive force from Las Vegas police during an incident that occurred while he was in town attending the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight Aug. 26, saying he was held at gunpoint and assaulted while on the ground.
Bennett, who played at Alief Taylor, initially revealed the incident via a statement on Twitter on Wednesday morning. In a news conference later in the day at the team’s training facility, Bennett answered questions about the incident for about seven minutes but said he could not go into specific details. The news conference ended suddenly when Bennett grew emotional while talking about his three daughters and how he hopes they will not have to be subject to injustice, pausing and then leaving the stage.
“I think I try to tell my daughters every single day that they matter,’’ Bennett said before stopping and ending the news conference.
Earlier, Bennett called the incident “traumatic’’ and said he was glad to have survived and has a public platform to let people know that such incidents occur. “There are a lot of people who experience what I experience at that moment and they are not here to live to tell their story,’’ Bennett said before naming notable victims of police shootings such as Travyon Martin, Charleena Lyles and Philando Castile. “So many people have had the experience that I had and they are not here to tell the story.’’
Considering legal options
In a press release, Bennett also announced he has retained Oakland civil-rights attorney John Burris and is considering legal options, including filing a federal civil-rights lawsuit and that he is calling on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to release the names of the officers involved as well as “body camera videos of the incident.”
Bennett wrote that after watching the fight he was walking back to his hotel when he heard what sounded like gun shots and ran away from the sound. Bennett wrote he was then singled out for “simply being a black man’’ and ordered to the ground and assaulted by two officers and that one held a gun to his head and told him he would ‘blow (his) (expletive) head off.’’’ Another officer, he wrote, jammed his knee into Bennett’s back so hard “it was difficult for him to breathe.”
He said he was only released when officers recognized who he was but that he was not given a reason for having been apprehended.
“I was ultimately release without any legitimate justification for the Officers’ abusive conduct,” Bennett wrote.
During his meeting with media, Bennett said he did not want to get into details but said he had not heard anything from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department either following the incident or since he went public with it Wednesday.
Bennett said that if he had made a wrong move during the time he was being held on the ground, “the Seahawks would be wearing a patch with number 72 (his jersey) on it. So I’m just lucky to be able to be here now.”
Bennett said he has heard people say he brought the incident on himself. “I didn’t ask for this moment. It just happened to be me.”
The Las Vegas Police Department said “this case is under investigation. Reserve judgment. We will address this publicly today.’’
Asked about the incident at the beginning of his news conference Wednesday, coach Pete Carroll read a statement that said the incident is “a classic illustration of the reality of inequality demonstrated daily. May this incident inspire all of us to respond with compassion when inequalities are brought to light, and allow us to have the courage to stand for change. We can do better.’’
Carroll said Bennett told him about the incident shortly after it happened, and other teammates said Bennett told them about it once the team was back. Seattle had that weekend off after playing against the Vikings on Aug. 25.
Still planning to sit
Bennett has been increasingly active and vocal on social issues, including sitting during the national anthem before all four Seahawks exhibition games this preseason, an action he said he will continue.
In his Twitter message, Bennett wrote he is sitting during the anthem because “equality doesn’t live in this country.”
Bennett’s brother, Martellus, later wrote a response via Twitter and Instagram, saying that the call from his brother that night “was a scary one.”
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who last year became the first NFL player to sit during the national anthem, weighed in with his support for Bennett in a tweet, writing: “This violation that happened against my Brother Michael Bennett is disgusting and unjust. I stand with Michael and I stand with the people.”