“An American football star has accused police in Las Vegas of racially profiling him after a video emerged of him being pinned to the ground and handcuffed,” standard.co.uk reports (video below.) “Michael Bennett, a Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman who has won the Super Bowl, said he was arrested after fleeing a nightclub with several hundred other members of the public following what people thought were gunshots.” In a statement posted on Twitter . . .
Bennett wrote that he feared he would die, saying: “As I laid on the ground, complying with his commands not to move, (the officer) placed his gun near my head and warned me that if I moved he would ‘blow my f***** head off’.”
The video released by the LVPD shows Mr. Bennett being cuffed, and his claims of racism have been disputed. The threat was issued before the video begins — theoretically.
Meanwhile, the allegation brings to mind the quote — famously uttered by General James Mattis — “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”
I reckon (armed) police officers should be unfailingly polite, even as they threaten the use of force, or apply it. Anything less invites escalation. Alternatively, bad guys need street talk to pay attention.
We report, you deride.