Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett describes police brutality in disturbing open letter
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett described disturbing mistreatment at the hands of the Las Vegas police in an open letter to the "world" that he posted to Twitter on Wednesday.
The incident reportedly occurred after the fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather last month. After hearing "what sounded like gun shots" on his way back to his hotel, Bennett claims he was targeted by officers "for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time." Bennett wrote that he was ordered to the ground, while one officer "placed his gun near by head and warned me that if I moved he would 'blow my f---ing head off."
Eventually the police identified Bennett as "a famous professional football player," he said, and let him go. "This fact is unequivocally, without question, why before every game, I sit during the national anthem — because equality doesn't live in this country," Bennett wrote.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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