Police: 'No evidence' of excessive force in Michael Bennett incident

Police said Friday they found "no evidence" that officers used excessive force in detaining Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett during an August incident in Las Vegas and that they had reasonable suspicion to make the stop.

Bennett has accused police officers of racial profiling, saying they pointed guns at him and used excessive force in the incident, which occurred outside a nightclub after the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor fight on Aug. 26.

The body camera of the officer who initially detained Bennett was not turned on. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Friday that police sorted through 861 videos, including from body cameras from other officers and hotel security cameras, and found that 193 were pertinent to the investigation. From there, they said they pieced together a timeline of the incident and played video for the media at a news conference. They said Bennett's detainment lasted about 10 minutes, seven of which were spent in a police car.

The video shown by police showed an officer with his weapon drawn over Bennett on the sidewalk. Police said Bennett was handcuffed, moved to a police vehicle and spoken to by another officer, who told Bennett that police were looking for an active shooter. After an exchange with police that lasted a few minutes, police took the handcuffs off Bennett and he was told he could leave. Bennett shook one of the officers' hands and walked away.

Lombardo said the internal investigation showed that the officers behaved "appropriately and professionally" and that "the incident was not about race." He said two other individuals were also detained in a similar manner, one black and one Hispanic.

Bennett told reporters earlier this month that the incident was "a traumatic experience for me and my family" and he was considering filing a civil rights lawsuit.

Bennett first gave his side of the incident on Twitter on Sept 6. He said that officers pointed guns at him "for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time" and ordered him to lie down on the ground.

Bennett wrote that one officer, with his gun drawn, warned him that he would "blow my f---ing head off" if he moved. Another officer jammed his knee into Bennett's back and handcuffed him, according to Bennett.

"The Officers' excessive use of force was unbearable," Bennett wrote. "I felt helpless as I lay there on the ground handcuffed facing the real-life threat of being killed. 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.'"

Bennett wrote that he was placed in a police car before officers confirmed his identity, realized he was not a suspect and released him "without any legitimate justification for the Officers' abusive conduct."

"They apparently realized I was not a thug, common criminal or ordinary black man but Michael Bennett a famous professional football player," he wrote.

The video police shown on Friday showed Bennett identifying himself as a Seahawks player after police allowed him to get out of the police car and told him he was not under arrest.

Lombardo said the intent of Friday's news conference was not to "disparage" Bennett, acknowledging there are "two sides to every story."

"Mr. Bennett has a valid perspective as a person who experienced a reasonable suspicion stop for a felony crime," he said. "Those who experience such a stop, especially when they have not committed a crime, are not likely to feel good about it. But there is a reason why officers are trained to do what they do and what they did that night."

Story: First fact. I and my brother are white. We lived in Oakland as kids near Lake Merritt.....just back ground info...not otherwise relevant.

My brother worked at Cousins furniture in Hayward when he was a student at Hayward State (Now East Bay State) back in the 1980’s. He used to ride his bike from and to BART to get to his job and back home. One night on the way to BART (Probably around 11 PM) he had to pee real bad so he ducked into an alley (I know...that’s my brother...I wouldn’t do it either). As he was going, he heard some shuffling and a lady moaning which scared the hell out of him so he came running out of the alley like the Devil was chasing him.

Good story so far, ...isn’t it? You should hear my brother tell it after a few drinks on Thanksgiving Day. Anyway....

As he was exiting the alley, two cops were entering the alley. The cops both pulled there guns on my brother and told him to stop or they would shoot him dead. They threw him against the wall, patted him down, and put the cuffs on him. They then wanted his story. He told them he had to pee, pointed to his bike (which was near by). They didn’t really believe him until he pointed to where he was peeing on the wall.

It turns out the person in the alley was a prostitute and someone beat the crap out of her just before my brother showed up (A concerned neighbor had called the police which is why the police were on the scene as well).

And, in the end, the victim (who was black) told the cops my brother wasn’t the guy. Eventually, the cops apologized for the rough treatment and let him go on his way....with a story he repeats to this very day.

What is my point? My point is ‘when you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, the cops are going to assume you are the suspect until it all gets cleared up....regardless of your skin color.

Mr. Bennett. What happened to you sucked. No one likes what happened to you....probably especially the cops. But, when you are in the vicinity of a violent crime, and you look suspicious, then that’s what happens....to everyone and anyone...not only to black people. Thankfully we have professional police officers in this country. Once they figured out what was going on, you were sent on your way. That’s life dude.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.