Michael Bennett encouraged professional athletes to use their platforms for change during the 2016 NFL season. (Jeffrey Beall)
The NFL seems to be siding with Michael Bennett on this one.
The league declined Las Vegas police’s request to investigate the Seattle Seahawks defensive end’s accusation of police brutality.
“There is no allegation of a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy and therefore there is no basis for an NFL investigation,” spokesman Brian McCarthy wrote Thursday, Sept. 7, in response to a letter from the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, according to ESPN.
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith had a similar response earlier that day after the president of the LVPPA wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Steve Grammas alleged Bennett had made “obvious false allegations against” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which the LVPPA represents.
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“Michael Bennett’s claim that our officers are racist is false and offensive to the men and women of law enforcement,” Grammas wrote in the letter defending the LVMPD. “We hope you will take appropriate action against Michael Bennett. I am available to meet with you and will provide any other information you deem necessary.”
#BREAKING: letter from union for @LVMPD officers to @nflcommish requesting investigation into Michael Bennett @mosesbread72 @LVPPA @8NewsNow pic.twitter.com/B7tdqgag7K
— Vanessa_Murphy (@Vanessa_Murphy) September 7, 2017
However, Goodell had already made it clear where he stands. In a statement released a day earlier, he said, “The issues Michael has been raising deserve serious attention from all our leaders.”
.@nflcommish statement on Michael Bennett pic.twitter.com/OZkF18g079
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) September 6, 2017
Bennett drew support from many Wednesday when he detailed a harrowing account of police brutality.
“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,” he tweeted of the August incident.
When one officer ordered Bennett to lie on the ground, the athlete alleged “he placed his gun near my head and warned me if I moved, he would blow my f—— head off.’
“Terrified and confused by what was taking place, a second officer came over and forcefully jammed his knee into my back making it difficult for me to breathe,” he continued. “They then cinched the handcuffs on my wrists so tight that my fingers went numb.”
The LVPD is currently investigating the incident and Bennett’s attorney, John Burris, told the Seattle Times a lawsuit is “is imminent, just not today.”
