Thousands of people are reacting to Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennet’s letter where he describes himself as a victim of excessive force and racial profiling by the Las Vegas Police Department.
Bennett tweeted a statement on Wednesday that explained he was leaving a club on the Las Vegas strip when he heard gunshots. He, like others, ran.
According to Bennett's statement, police ordered him to the ground at gunpoint, jammed a knee into his back and handcuffed him so tight that his fingers went numb.
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TMZ Sports obtained a video -- reportedly shot outside of Drai's -- that shows Bennett asking why he was being detained.
“I wasn’t doing nothing, man,” Bennett is heard saying in the video. “They told us to get out and everybody ran.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, parts of Drai's Nightclub were evacuated early Sunday for shooting reports that turned out to be false.
Social media videos from the night of the false shooting show chaos around the club as police investigated. The police department later found that large statues were knocked down onto the tile floor during a fight, which caused panic and prompted reports of a shooting.
Bennett’s letter details how he said police would not answers his question, “What did I do?” He called it an excessive use of force, simply because he was a "black man in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Within hours of the letter and video surfacing, Bennett -- who has recently remained seated during the national anthem prior to football games -- was trending on Twitter with many calling the incident infuriating.
Free agent and former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who started the national anthem protest, was among those who supported Bennett.
“This violation that happened against my Brother Michael Bennett is disgusting and unjust. I stand with Michael and I stand with the people,” he wrote.
The Las Vegas Police Department has released limited information on the encounter, but they will hold a news conference later in the afternoon on Wednesday.
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