Stephen A. Smith demands video evidence of Scottie Scheffler's arrest: "If it were Tiger Woods, you'd have it"
The matter of Scottie Scheffler's arrest will experience a possibly decisive day this Thursday, May 23, when the Louisville police will hold a press conference. In anticipation of that moment, Stephen A. Smith demanded the release of all videos of the arrest.
Renowned sportscaster Smith used his YouTube show on Wednesday to call for public access to all the footages. He also said that he did not want to imply that there was a racial undertone to the matter, but that if it were Tiger Woods, the videos would have been released by now.
"If you’re going to consistently have video incriminating black people," Smith said, "consistently have video incriminating white people…I’m not trying to imply this was some racial incident or anything like that. I’m saying, to cynics who are quick to lean on race, you give them fodder when you let stuff like that happen."
"Where’s the damn video?" he added, "That has to stop. Where’s the damn video…Find it! Get it! Because if it were Tiger Woods, you’d have it. If it was Tiger Woods, you know good and damn well you’d have it."
Stephen A. Smith is a well-known sportscaster who has worked for ESPN and Fox Sports, among many other radio, television and print media outlets. He currently has a YouTube channel with more than 673,000 subscribers and has more than 5.9 million followers on X (formerly Twitter).
Police press conference on Scottie Scheffler case
The Louisville Metro Police Department called a press conference to provide an "update" on its internal investigation related to the arrest of Scottie Scheffler. The press briefing will be held at 11:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) Thursday and will be broadcast live on Golf Channel.
The press conference will be hosted by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel.
According to the press release to convene the meeting, Gwinn-Villaroel will report on any violations of police procedures that have been detected in the investigation. It also said that all available videos related to the arrest will be released.
Following the call for the press conference, CNN reported that among Louisville police officials there is a view that the charges against Scottie Scheffler are too severe. The network said it had been informed of this by a "senior officer" in law enforcement, whose identity was not disclosed.
Scottie Scheffler's case is pending arraignment hearing, postponed from May 21 to June 3. The World No. 1 is facing four criminal charges, including second-degree assault.
Since the arrest, rumors have circulated that the charges could be dropped. However, Scottie Scheffler's own attorney, Steve Romines, ruled out such a possibility. He also said they were not interested in reaching a plea deal.