LAPD releases Jaxson Hayes arrest video; police union calls for NBA to investigate the incident
The LAPD has released bodycam videos of New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes' arrest following a domestic disturbance incident in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. The videos, released on Friday, showed how the altercation started and how the police officers treated the 21-year-old NBA player.
WARNING: The video contains violence not fit for children.
As reported by TMZ on July 28, Jaxson Hayes refused to let police officers investigate his home. As he was being detained, Hayes resisted arrest, following which the violent engagement occurred.
What was disturbing about the video was how Jaxson Hayes had the knee of a police officer on his neck, while he cried out that he couldn’t breathe and was repeatedly tased. The incident calls to mind the exact same words Eric Garner, a Black man, used after he was apprehended by a New York Police Department officer.
“I can’t breathe,” Garner said, as he suffocated and died with a police officer’s arm draped around his neck in July 2014. The incident sparked national outrage and caught the attention of NBA players.
LeBron James, then with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and others wore “I can’t breathe” T-shirts during pregame warmups against the Brooklyn Nets in December that year. Since then, the voices of the players against violence toward Blacks has only grown louder.
It remains to be seen how James and other NBA players will react after seeing one of their own being taken down in a similar fashion.
"Jaxson Hayes is a nice young man, and he is back home in Ohio working out and getting ready for the upcoming season," his attorney, Mark Baute, said in a statement on Friday.
LAPD union calls for NBA to hold Jaxson Hayes accountable
According to the report from CBS Los Angeles, the LAPD are calling for action on the part of the NBA for Jaxson Hayes’ role in the incident that occurred in Los Angeles.
“Now the LA Police Protective League, the union that represents LAPD officers, is demanding the NBA investigate the incident and hold Hayes accountable,” Rick Montanez reported.
The NBA and the NBPA, the league’s player union, have likely seen the videos in full and not just snippets of what were shown in the news. How the two respond to the demand from the LAPPL will be determined in the coming days.
"The LAPD’s Force Investigation Division is looking into the case 'due to the possibility of force being applied to Hayes’ neck during the use of force,' police previously said in a statement," the official news report stated. "Los Angeles police have presented the case to prosecutors, who haven’t decided whether to file charges."
Hayes played his second season with the New Orleans Pelicans last season, averaging 7.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 16.1 minutes of action in 60 games.
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