Watch: Ex-NFL player posts video claiming police brutality
Desmond Marrow, a former football player at the University of Toledo and a brief member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, posted a video to Facebook on Thursday that he said shows he was improperly treated by police officers in Georgia.
The incident in question reportedly occurred in December.
The video shows two uniformed police officers arresting Marrow in a parking lot. The officers had to resort to upending one of Marrow’s legs as they took him down to arrest him.
At one point, a third officer joined the fray.
Many found the most alarming part of the video to be when an officer grabbed Marrow’s neck and seemed to press down hard.
“I can’t breathe,” Marrow could be heard saying. After a couple of seconds he appeared to go limp and pass out, although there is no confirmation that he was actually unconscious.
“This is unbelievable,” the person recording the incident said at one point.
The video soon went viral, with more than 5,000 shares and 1,000 comments. It comes during a time in which NFL players have made a point to protest police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem.
According to police records obtained by WXIA-TV, Marrow found himself in the compromising situation when he was involved in a road rage incident.
Marrow reportedly was driving on the highway when someone from another car threw a cup of coffee at his vehicle. The aggrieved Marrow followed the other person all the way to the parking lot in which the video was shot. An officer happened to notice Marrow angrily chasing another car and followed them.
When the officer arrived at the scene, Marrow — who was listed at 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds with the Bucs — was apparently involved in an argument with several other people.
A witness reportedly told the officer that Marrow had threatened to shoot and kill people.
After a quick investigation revealed that there were no weapons on Marrow’s person, the officers informed the former football player that they would still be arresting him because of the alleged threat one of the witnesses said he made. From there, police said Marrow became combative and uncooperative, which led to the recorded incident.
“I Only Had My Cell Phone in my possesion & [the police] claimed to be scared for their lives,” Marrow wrote on his Facebook post. “I had No type of weapon in my possession, I was arrested for having a Gun that turned out to be my Cell Phone.”
Marrow claims he suffered significant injuries at the hands of the officers.
“During the arrest the police knocked my teeth out, slammed me on my head and choked me out until I was unconscious,” he wrote. “In addition I suffered a shoulder strain and a concussion.”
Marrow also mentioned that his wife had left him due to his “short comings and careless actions,” although it’s unclear if his wife left him after the incident with police or if that preceded his arrest.
“They threw me into isolation and labeled me a gang member because of my tattoos. I was fully cooperating with the officers with ZERO resistance. I thought I was going to die,” he wrote.
According to a statement from Marrow’s attorneys, Andrea Boyd and Chris Stewart, to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the incident was a hate crime.
“He was called racial slurs by two white males while driving and had hot coffee thrown in his vehicle by these individuals,” the statement read. “He then followed the individuals and a discussion ensued.”
Despite Marrow’s never having played a regular season snap with the Buccaneers, his plight caught the eye of NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith.
Landing back in DC after a long flight and wanted to share thoughts on the awful video involving former NFL player Des Marrow. pic.twitter.com/pppbYhdb6i
— DeMaurice Smith (@demauricesmith) April 28, 2018
Henry County police said they are investigating the arrest.
“Although at the time of arrest an initial use of force review was conducted by internal affairs, earlier this month police Chief Mark Amerman ordered an internal affairs investigation to be conducted,” Henry County police Capt. Joey Smith said Friday via The Journal-Constitution. “As of today, the officer involved is on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.”
There seem to be no winners here. For the police, even if the actions were justified, it’s just a bad public relations look in 2018. For Marrow, if he did allegedly threaten to shoot anyone in today’s social climate, police intervention was likely merited. And the less said about the jerk who threw a cup of coffee at another motorist the better.
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