Miami Police Body Camera Video Of US Olympian Fred Kerley’s Violent Arrest Seems To Contradict Cops’ Story
Bronze medalist Fred Kerley of Team United States reacts after competing in the Men’s 100m Final on day nine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 4, 2024, in Paris, France. | Source: Michael Steele / Getty
If the Olympics gave out medals for how fast a person can escalate a situation from a completely non-violent confrontation to a full-on use of excessive force, there are a multitude of American police officers who would win the gold every time.
Last Thursday, U.S. Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley was roughed up, tased and arrested by police officers in Miami, Florida, and is now facing charges of battery, resisting officers and disorderly conduct, CNN reported. However, police body camera footage appears to show that it was an officer, not Kerley, who initiated unnecessary physical contact, and it appears that the cops are playing that game where they go from zero to 10 in mere seconds and then cite a citizen for “resisting” simply because he didn’t respond to their sudden aggression with perfect and immediate compliance.
From CNN:
Police later released body camera footage of the incident. It shows Kerley, who won a bronze medal in the men’s 100m at the 2024 Paris Olympics, approached by police officers. One officer raises a hand that pushes sideways against Kerley’s chest, Kerley bats the hand away, before an arm pushes Kerley and an altercation starts.
It is impossible to hear what is being said as there is no sound on the video until the physical confrontation begins. Several officers push Kerley to the ground in the struggle, and one appears to hit him multiple times. In the arrest record, police say two officers lost their footing and fell on their back and that Kerley fell on top of one of them. An officer then deploys a dart-firing stun gun on Kerley who falls to the ground after being hit.
The officers had been conducting an active, unrelated investigation, when Kerley approached them, concerned about his vehicle which was parked in the area, Christopher Bess, a spokesperson for the Miami Beach Police Department, told CNN.
Bess alleged that Kerley “disregarded lawful commands and physically pushed one of the uniformed officers” before resisting the officers’ attempts to detain him.
It should be alarming to people how casually police officers can present a description of events that contradicts what people can see with their own eyes in recorded video. The physical altercation didn’t start with Kerley physically pushing an officer; it started with an officer putting his hand on Kerley, and Kerley moving that hand away. If that’s legally considered “batter” of an officer then it’s clear cops and civilians are held to two different sets of laws.
Yale Sanford, Kerley’s defense attorney, called the body camera footage “obscene” in a statement to CNN in a statement, and he noted that his client represented his country in the Olympics only to be mistreated by law enforcement back home.
“It just goes to show that no matter how hard you work, how many medals you earn for your country, and how many people across the globe you inspire, in Miami Beach, Mr. Kerley was treated like millions of African Americans, male and female, around the country…with a lack of humanity, compassion, or respect,” Sanford said.
“It’s important for our community and country to be aware of these actions by police so we can make sure this type of behavior is prevented in the future,” he added. Sanford also criticized the involved police officers when Kerley appeared at Miami-Dade County Court on Friday afternoon.
On a side note, Kerley had another scheduled court appearance Saturday for an unrelated case in which he is “facing charges of robbery and domestic battery after his wife alleged he circled his arm around her neck and impeded her breathing during an argument in May 2024, per an arrest record filed with the Miami-Dade Police Department, which also alleges that Kerley took away her cellphone and drove off,” according to CNN.
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