Talk of investigating Seattle Seahawks’ defensive end, Michael Bennett, is going to be a unilateral conversation for police. In aletterpenned to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday, the Las Vegas Police union requested that an investigation be made into the athlete for “obvious false allegations” involving him being targeted and aggressively detained by law enforcement for being Black.
The opening statement the memo states that “while the NFL may condone Bennett’s disrespect for our American Flag, and everything it symbolizes, we hope the League will not ignore Bennett’s false accusations against our police officers.”
However, the chances of an investigation are slim to zero.
“There is no allegation of a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy,”the vice president of communications for the NFL, Brian McCarthy, toldProFootballTalk.”And therefore there is no basis for an NFL investigation.”
The move to not investigate is one that stealthily supports Bennett and draws a line in the sand with caution tape blocking the entry of outsiders seemingly that of law enforcement.
Bennett, who just last month announced that he would be sitting during the national anthem this season as a form of protest to the most recent racial and social inequalities that have plagued the nation, such as the riots in Charlottesville, Va., became a victim to the same injustices that he was aiming to prevent for others.
On Wednesday the 6’4″ athlete posted a letter on his social media accounts detailing the events that happened after leaving the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight last month, which left him feeling “terrified and confused.”
When heading back to his hotel from the fight, several gunshots were heard, resulting in people running, including Bennett. However, according to athlete, he was ordered by police to come over, which resulted in him with a gun near his head and a knee in his back, preventing him from breathing despite being compliant.
Bennett recounted having a gun pointed at his head and a knee jammed into his back, making it difficult for him to breathe.
When heading back to his hotel from the fight, several gunshots were heard, resulting in people running, including Bennett. However, according to athlete, he was ordered by police to come over, which resulted in him with a gun near his head and a knee in his back, preventing him from breathing despite being compliant.
According to the Washington Post, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Undersheriff Kevin McMahilldeniedthat race played a factor when speaking at a press conference. McMahill included that his officers come in many ethnicities, also noting that there are 126 pieces of video to review.
However, TMZ released avideoon Wednesday showing Bennett in handcuffs, laying facedown on the concrete yelling,”I wasn’t doing nothing man! I was here with my friends! They told us to get out, everybody ran!”
“As I laid on the ground, complying with his commands not to move, [the officer] placed his gun near my head and warned me that if I moved he would ‘blow my f***ing head off,'” according to Bennett. However, this is not seen in the video, and it was later revealed that the officerdidn’t have his body cam turned on.
After seeing footage of his brother being detained, Bennett’s younger brother Martellus Bennett, who is a tight end for the Green Bay Packers, told Sports Center in a tearful interview that he is happy to see his brother alive, knowing that things could have gone in a different direction.
ICYMI: Martellus Bennett describes his reaction to the video of his brother, Michael Bennett, in handcuffs. https://t.co/pBNG6tJRRL pic.twitter.com/QeC6cM4yuu
SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 7, 2017
“I didn’t even know there was a video,” the Wisconsin tight end toldESPN. “I had to walk out of meetings because I broke down crying, just thinking about what could have happened, what could have been. It was just so close. You never know these days.”
