On September 6th, defensive end Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks accused Las Vegas police of pointing a gun at his head and using excessive force. The incident happened after Bennett attended the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. Following Bennett’s claims, Las Vegas police issued an official statement. The statement isn’t available on the LVMPD’s official site anymore, but SB Nation published the description of the event told by Undersheriff Kevin McMahill.
“With very little information as to who the shooter was or that shooter’s location, our officers pushed past the fleeing crowds and began immediately converging on the reported threat. One of the teams that cleared the casino then exited the casino at the door to regroup and were redirected back toward the Drai’s Nightclub inside of the casino. As they moved toward the nightclub, an individual later identified as Bennett was seen crouched down behind a gaming machine as the officers approached. Once Bennett was in the officer’s view he quickly ran out of the south doors, jumped over a wall onto Flamingo Road, east of Las Vegas Boulevard, into traffic. Due to Bennett’s actions and the information officers had at the time, they believed Bennett may have been involved in the shooting and they gave chase. Bennett was placed in handcuffs and detained while officers determined whether or not he was involved in the original incident.“
McMahill also said that the arresting officer didn’t have his body camera activated and that the police department opened an internal investigation. Although Bennett claimed the incident was racially motivated, McMahill denied it and said: “I see no evidence that race played any role in this incident.“
Las Vegas Police Department sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, asking him to open an investigation following Bennett’s “obviously false allegations“. The full letter was posted by Vanessa Murphy of 8 News on her Twitter profile.
#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
