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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2017)
September 13, 2017 The Skanner Page 9 News Seahawks’ Bennett Says He Feared Death by Las Vegas Police By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Seat- tle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett ac- cused Las Vegas police last week of racially mo- tivated excessive force, saying he was threat- ened at gunpoint and handcuffed following a report of gunshots at an after-hours club at a casi- no-hotel. Police said they’re in- vestigating, but that Ben- nett failed to stop for offi- cers searching a crowded casino for what they believed to be an active shooter just hours after the Aug. 26 boxing match between Floyd May- weather Jr. and Conor McGregor. “I believe this case will become completely clear as all the available video is reviewed for eviden- tiary purposes,” Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill told re- porters. “We’ll see very, very clearly exactly what happened on this inci- dent.” Bennett said on a Twit- ter message titled “Dear World,” that police “sin- gled me out and pointed their guns at me for do- ing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time.” McMahill aired a lengthy video clip taken from a police sergeant’s body camera during a search of the Cromwell casino after a report of gunfire at the Drai’s nightclub. But he said at least one officer who en- countered Bennett didn’t have his body camera on at the time. Bennett isn’t seen until the very end of the clip — being handcuffed as he lies prone in a traffic lane on Las Vegas Boulevard. McMahill said that with an internal affairs inves- tigation just beginning, he saw “no evidence that race played any role in this incident.” Police and casino of- ficials later attributed the report of gunfire to the sharp sound of vel- vet rope stands being knocked to a tile floor. Bennett, during a brief appearance Wednesday at the Seahawks’ practice facility in Renton, Wash- ington, described the in- cident as “traumatic” but declined to go into specif- ics about it. “It’s a traumatic expe- rience for me, my fam- ily and it sucks that the country that we live in now sometimes you get profiled for the color of your skin,” Bennett said. “Do I think every police officer is bad? No, I don’t believe that. Do I believe there are some people “ here to tell their story.” Bennett, a 6-foot-4 de- fensive end who has been a leader of the national anthem protests started by former 49ers quarter- back Colin Kaepernick, said he was among sev- eral hundred people run- ning away. In his Twitter mes- sage, Bennett said he was handcuffed face-down on the ground after an offi- cer held a gun to his head saying he would blow his head off if he moved. “All I could think of was ‘I’m going to die for no other reason than I am black and my skin color is somehow a threat,’” he wrote. He said he thought of his wife and children. Bennett said he was taken to the back of a po- lice car “until they appar- ently realized I was not a thug, common criminal or ordinary black man but Michael Bennett a fa- mous professional foot- ball player.” He was re- Do I think every police offi- cer is bad? No, I don’t believe that. Do I believe there are some people out there that judge people by the color of their skin? I do believe that out there that judge peo- ple by the color of their skin? I do believe that.” “I’m just trying to fo- cus on the game, focus on the task at hand and let everything take care of itself,” Bennett said. “But like I said this is a tragic situation for me, I hate to be up here at this moment. There is a lot of people who experienced what I experienced at that point, at that mo- ment and they’re not leased without charges. Las Vegas police Officer Jacinto Rivera said police were checking for casi- no and police body cam- era video and written reports. He said the de- partment couldn’t imme- diately verify Bennett’s account or identify the officers involved. A video posted by ce- lebrity news site TMZ shows a view from a bal- cony as a police officer kneels on the back of a PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Bennett, who has been active in Seattle’s Black Lives Matter movement, says the experience was ‘traumatic’ for him and his family Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, pictured here at a July 29 rally in support of slain mother Charleena Lyles, has accused Las Vegas police of racially motivated excessive force. man who looks like Ben- nett. Protests are heard, including, “I wasn’t do- ing nothing,” and, “I was here with my friends. They told us to get out and everybody ran.” Bennett’s attorney, John Burris in Oakland, California, confirmed the words were Ben- nett’s. The attorney said he believed the 30-sec- ond video clip showed some of how his client was treated. “We think there was an unlawful detention and the use of excessive force, with a gun put to his head,” Burris told The Associated Press. “He was just in the crowd. He doesn’t drink or do drugs. He wasn’t in a fight. He wasn’t resisting. He did nothing more or less than anyone in the crowd.” Burris said Bennett waited to make public his account of the incident until after Burris con- tacted Las Vegas police last week by letter and email, seeking police re- cords of Bennett’s deten- tion. McMahill said he had no knowledge of any let- ter or email last week from Bennett or Burris. Bennett’s brother, Mar- tellus Bennett, who plays for the Green Bay Pack- ers, posted an Instagram account of a telephone call he said he got from Michael Bennett. He said he heard fear in his brother’s voice. “The emotion and the thought of almost losing you because of the way you look left me in one of the saddest places ever,” Martellus Bennett said. Michael Bennett has been one of the most out- spoken pro athletes on numerous social issues. Last month, he held a benefit for the family of a pregnant black woman who was fatally shot by two white Seattle police officers in June. Police said the woman threat- ened the officers with at least one knife after calling 911 to report that someone had broken into her apartment and sto- len video-game consoles. Advocates on Wednes- day cited Bennett’s treat- ment by police as an illustration of troubled race relations in Ameri- ca. Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter advocacy group, called it “a tes- tament to the police vi- olence targeting black people in the United States.” Cullors endorsed an online petition calling for Las Vegas police to re- lease information about what she called an as- sault on Bennett. Make The Skanner part of your daily routine
