Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett accused Las Vegas officers of racial profiling and excessive force after the Mayweather-Mcgregor fight in August.
Bennett claimed that the police singled him out and one even threatened to “blow his head off.” The NFL backed Bennett’s story, but the Las Vegas Metr0 Police Department (LVMPD) has strongly come out and denied all of Bennett’s claim. The two arresting officers are Hispanic males.
Detective Steve Grammas, the president of the Las Vegas Metro Police Protective Association, has even asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate Bennett’s actions.
The incident took place on August 25 at 1:30AM when the police received a call about a possible shooter around Drai’s nightclub in the Cromwell casino. Kevin McMahill, the Undersheriff of the LVMPD, described the situation at a press conference. From CBS Sports:
After clearing the casino, a team of officer’s started heading toward Drai’s nightclub, and while they were on the way there, they located Bennett.”As they moved toward the nightclub, an individual later identified as Bennett was seen crouched down behind a gaming machine as the officers approached,” McMahill sald. “Once Bennett was in the officer’s view, he quickly ran out the south doors, jumped over a wall onto Flamingo Road East of Las Vegas Boulevard into traffic.”According to McMahill, the officers viewed Bennett’s actions as suspicious, which is why he was handcuffed.”Due to Bennett’s actions, and the information the officer’s had at the time, they believed that Bennett may have been involved in the shooting and they gave chase,” McMahill said. “Bennett was placed in handcuffs and detained while officers determined whether or not he was involved in the incident.”
The police handcuffed Bennett for 10 minutes. TEN MINUTES. McMahill also said that Bennett told the officers on the scene “that he ‘understood.'” CBS Sports continued:
“Mr. Bennett, at the scene, had the incident explained to him by a supervisor and he said that he understood and that he had no problem with what the officers did,” McMahill said.
The officers had no idea what the shooter looked like and they became suspicious because he took off after he saw them.
McMahill did say that Bennett mentioned “the officer pointed a gun at his head.” That officer either didn’t have a body camera or if he did it was turned off. He said that is what the police will investigate:
“We learned of Mr. Bennett’s allegations just this morning and an internal investigation has been opened,” McMahill said. “Part of that investigation includes pulling footage from dozens of body cameras. As of today, we know there are at least 126 videos associated with those cameras that we have to review. As you can imagine, it takes a significant amount of effort and time to review all the video and available evidence. If the investigation reveals that any polices or training was violated, those officers will be held accountable.”
Here is the letter Grammas wrote to Goodell:
This is Bennett’s statement:
Either way we’ll get answers soon. Every inch of Vegas is covered with cameras.
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