Brandon Marshall Claims Miami Police Tried To Take Him Down
DENVER (CBS4)- Police in Miami, Fla. are looking into claims made by Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall that he was nearly tased by officers. A spokesperson for the department told CBS4 "it is an open investigation."
Marshall has said that incident was one of the factors that led to his kneeling protest when the national anthem is played.
The Broncos player says he was at the Bayside Market in Miami having dinner with friends. It was the Fourth of July and reports of what sounded to some like fireworks came in to police.
Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes said during a news conference after the incident, "Hundreds of people began screaming and running toward Bayside."
The chief added others were running the opposite way.
Marshall told the Denver Post he ducked under the table saying he didn't believe a policeman who said it was just fireworks that created the noise.
Marshall said as he was leaving a woman yelled, 'Stop him.'
"When I turned around, about five officers rushed toward me to take me down," he said.
"One of the cops pointed a Taser at my chest. They handcuffed me and I heard one say, 'Take him in for resisting,' Marshall told the Post.
Marshall claims he was placed in a patrol car to be taken to a station when he heard on a two way radio to bring him back.
"They told me, 'Look, we're not going to take you in as long as you keep this between us.'"
Marshall said.
Llanes told the news conference in July there was no evidence that gunshots were fired, "A canvass of the area was also conducted however at this time we have not found any casiings, victims, suspects or evidence of a shooting."
Marshall met last week with Denver Police Chief Robert White to talk about his concerns with law enforcement authorities and visited a school where he told CBS4 his protest is also about doing good deeds.
"I'm not just taking a knee I'm doing other things as well. I'm doing leg work and going out to schools and helping them to stay in school and listen to their teachers and be respectful," said Marshall.
But there are those who contend the protest by Marshall and others who refuse to stand during the national anthem is about respect as well. Two sponsors have dropped Marshall as a spokesman as a result of the protest.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.
