Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett plans on filing a civil rights lawsuit after Las Vegas police allegedly profiled and threatened to “blow my f–king head off” moments after the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight in August.
The two-time Pro Bowler recalled the incident in a lengthy Twitter post Wednesday, in which he detailed that shortly after the bout, he heard something that sounded like gunfire, sparking several hundred people to run in panic.
“Like many of the people in the area I ran away from the sound, looking for safety,” wrote Bennett, a member of the 2014 Super Bowl-champion Seahawks. “Las Vegas police officers singled me out and pointed their guns at me for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
TMZ has video of the arrest, which shows a portion of the incident.
The Post reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and is awaiting a response, though TMZ says the department is looking into Bennett’s accusations.
This violation that happened against my Brother Michael Bennett is disgusting and unjust. I stand with Michael and I stand with the people. pic.twitter.com/TqXFiso6lk
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 6, 2017
Bennett, who said he complied with the officers during the incident, claims that one officer “ordered me to get on the ground” before placing his gun near his head and threatening to “blow my f–king head off” if he moved. One officer, according to Bennett, put his knee to the Seahawks star’s back, which made it difficult for him to breathe. They also cinched the handcuffs on Bennett’s wrists, he said, which made his fingers go numb.
“The Officers’ excessive use of force was unbearable,” Bennett said. “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.”
Cops took Bennett into the back of a police car for what he said “felt like an eternity” before they realized he wasn’t a suspect. Bennett said in the post that he is exploring legal options.
“The system failed me. I can only imagine what Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Charleena Lyles felt,” Bennett said.
Colin Kaepernick threw his support to Bennett, calling the situation “disgusting and unjust.”
Bennett, who publicly supports the Black Lives Matter movement, protested the national anthem during a preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers in August following the far-right violence in Charlottesville.
