Michael Bennetts's Lawyer Calls For Independent Probe Of Las Vegas Police

The lawyer for Seattle Seahawks standout Michael Bennett wants an independent agency to investigate how Bennett was treated by Las Vegas police officers last month. John Burris says that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the union representing its officers have prejudged Bennett.

"Over the last several days, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and its union have begun a smear campaign aimed at demonizing and besmirching the character of Michael Bennett," Burris says.

The Seahawks defensive end says that the night of the Floyd Mayweather fight against Conor McGregor, he was detained and threatened at gunpoint by officers. (For more information on the fatal punch case and other Las Vegas stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

"This victim shaming is a common tactic used by police when they are caught violating a person's rights," says Burris. "Mr. Bennett has absolutely no reason to concoct a story.

"The involved officers, on the other hand, have every reason to concoct a story in order to cover-up the violations of Mr. Bennett’s constitutionally protected rights."

Burris says that the Vegas police department is now investigating whether Bennett was involved in an altercation immediately before the incident - something Bennett adamantly denies.

Bennett made his explosive allegations early Wednesday, releasing a statement on Twitter, saying that he was handcuffed and a gun was held at his head simply for "being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I felt helpless as I lay there on the ground handcuffed facing the real-life threat of being killed," wrote Bennett, who is considering a civil rights lawsuit against Las Vegas.

At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Undersheriff Kevin McMahill disputed Bennett's version of events, saying that the officers had been responding to a call of an active shooter and that they saw Bennett — who had been crouched behind a gaming machine — had run.

"I see no evidence that race played any role in this incident," he said.

Detective Steve Grammas, the union president, wrote to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that Bennett's comments "are false and defamatory.

"I am sure that your attorney will tell you, our officers had reasonable suspicion, which is the constitutional standard to detain Bennett until they could determine whether he was involved in the shooting."

Goodell has expressed support for Bennett.

"Michael Bennett represents the best of the NFL — a leader on his team and community," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the League rejected the union's request that Bennett be investigated.

Burris also disputes McMahill's assertion that the department only learned of Bennett's allegations at the same time as everyone else - when he posted them to Twitter.

He points out that he made "numerous" calls to the department and sent a letter by FedEx.

Burris says another problem is that, as is their right under Nevada law, he and Bennett had requested to see whatever video had been acquired of the incident. He says that not only did the department not do that, they released parts of the video before giving a Bennett a chance to see the video.

Another issue is the fact that neither of the two officers involved in the incident had activated their body cameras - as they are required to do.

The Vegas police are investigating why the officers cameras were not turned on. Several other officers at the scene had their cameras on.

The department has had body cameras since 2012 and all officers who regularly come in contact with people are required to wear the cameras and turn them on. Earlier this year, Governor Sandoval extended that to all officers in the state who are on patrol to be wearing a camera.

Department policy spells out for officers several situations when the cameras must be on including person stops and any time they respond to a call where they will come in contact with people.

Photo courtesy Law Office of John Burris