Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo briefs reporters Sept. 29, 2017, on an internal investigation into allegations made by NFL star Michael Bennett of excessive police force during an August incident on the Las Vegas Strip.
Published Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 | 2:24 p.m.
Updated Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 | 6:32 p.m.
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett talks to reporters Jan. 10, 2017, in Renton, Wash.
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An internal probe into allegations by NFL player Michael Bennett that he was the victim of racial profiling and excessive force by Metro Police determined officers acted appropriately and professionally, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said today.
Barring any additional evidence, which includes 861 videos, 193 deemed pertinent to the Aug. 27 incident, the investigation likely will conclude, Lombardo said.
Officers had probable cause to detain Bennett based on his actions — which included crouching and jumping over a railing — after a fight erupted outside a Las Vegas Strip nightclub and people reported hearing what they thought were gunshots, Lombardo said. It was later determined no shots were fired.
“While I’m responding because of the allegations that Mr. Bennett made, I am not here to disparage him...there are two sides to every story, Lombardo said. “Mr. Bennett has a valid perspective as a person who experienced a reasonable suspicion stop for a felony crime. Those who experience such a stop — especially when they have not committed a crime—are not likely to feel good about it.”
Lombardo said Bennett’s actions were different from the other fleeing patrons, noting that the majority of them also were black, disagreeing with Bennett’s allegations of racial profiling. The two officers who held Bennett at gunpoint are of Hispanic descent, and the sergeant who also chased is black, he added.
In the videos, there was no evidence an officer pointed the gun at Bennett’s head or threatened to shoot him, as the Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman has alleged, Lombardo said. Two other men were detained in a similar way, he added.
Bennett alleged an officer threatened to blow his head off.
“If the officer said it, he said it. If he didn’t he didn’t,” Lombardo said. “He was taking an individual who he believed to be an active shooter into custody, and the language associated with that may not be acceptable but it’s not a policy violation.”
Investigators found evidence of the officer telling Bennett, “put your (expletive) hands up and put your (expletive) palms together,” Lombardo said. The officer failed to activate his camera during the interaction, and could face future disciplinary action.
Lombardo’s announcement came about a month after Bennett was handcuffed and detained for about 10 minutes after what turned out to be a false active-shooter call after the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight.
John Burris, Bennett’s Oakland-based attorney, told the Las Vegas Sun that although he appreciates the release of the footage, he doesn’t agree with Metro’s conclusion: “My reaction is one of disbelief.”
He said Bennett was acting like everyone else, and that there being no description of a shooting, an officer’s “hunch” is not legal justification to detain him.
As of late Friday afternoon, Bennett had not spoken to his attorney, but Burris said a viewing of the videos had been scheduled.
“A police officer ordered me to get on the ground,” Bennett posted on Twitter 11 days after the incident. “As I laid on the ground, complying with his commands not to move, he placed his gun near my head and warned me that if I moved he would ‘blow my (expletive) 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. They then cinched the handcuffs on my wrists so tight that my fingers went numb.”
The letter took Metro, which had not received a formal complaint, by surprise. The internal investigation was launched the day of the posting. Bennett filed the formal complaint this week.
In a previous briefing, officials broadcast parts of the incident captured on a security camera and on an officer’s body-worn camera.
At the time, police said officers were responding to the active-shooter call about 1 a.m. at the Cromwell casino. But what people thought were gunshots later was determined to be the sound of stanchions being knocked over during one of two fights, police said.
Bennett was standing in a line waiting near Drai’s nightclub, Lombardo said.
As the casino floor was being evacuated, an officer and casino security saw Bennett, who was crouching near a slot machine, take off running, police said.
The officer chased Bennett outside and over a wall into the the street, where he ordered him to the ground and took him into custody, police said.
Bennett was detained and released about 10 minutes later, Lombardo said. He spent about seven minutes in a cruiser, evidently frightened and pleading with the officers to tell him why he was being detained.
New footage from Bennett’s interaction with officers
Much of Bennett’s post-handcuffed interaction with officers was captured on surveillance Lombardo presented today. Bennett was handcuffed, put on his knees, and then later handed off to other officers who put him inside a cruiser.
“Sir, I did nothing, man,” Bennett said. “Listen man, then said I ran out the door. Listen, we all ran out the same like we were supposed to.”
Officers shouted when Bennett apparently resisted getting inside the cruiser, but later tried to reason with him.
“What am I getting arrested for?” Bennett said. The officer responded, “We’re dealing with a shooter.”
Bennett continued, “I have no problem, man, I’m just asking a question...I didn’t do nothing,”
But the officer replied, “Hey, you’re being detained.”
Bennett then tells police the detaining officer put him on the ground and put a gun to his head.
Away from Bennett, an officer tells another, “He’s complaining about his cuffs, he really didn’t fight too much, so I’m going to check (the cuffs).”
“I almost lost my life, man; for no reason,” Bennett said. “Can I just talk to you guys?”
“I didn’t do anything to get detained, I’m just a person running from somebody shooting,” Bennett continued, still pleading. “They say, why are you jumping. I’m like, somebody’s shooting, man, I have three daughters. I want to go home and see my kids.”
An officer continuously tries to calm Bennett. Another officer arrives after the active-shooter call is determined to be false, and explains to Bennett that he’s going to be let free, apologizing, and explaining to him why they detained him.
Bennett tells the officers there, which didn’t include the officer who handcuffed him, “I’m not mad at you all,” repeating that police had pointed a gun to his head. “I’m scared as (expletive), man.”
After telling him he was going to be released, the officers find out they’re speaking to an NFL player.
An officer again explains why he was detained “I believe you 100 percent that you didn’t do anything.”
Bennett shakes the hands of two officers before he walks away.
Bennett announced in early August that he would sit during the national anthem this season to protest social injustice and was one the first NFL players to protest this year. He made the decision before protests by white supremacists at the University of Virginia.
But Bennett said his decision was solidified by what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, including the death of a young woman who was struck by a car deliberately driven into a group of counter-protesters.
Neither Lombardo nor the executive of the 3,000-member Las Vegas police officers’ union, who attended the media briefing, identified the officers involved in the incident.
Union official Steve Grammas said he believed Bennett owes them an apology.
The Associated Press contributed.
