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A video of footballer Bashaud Breeland‘s arrest on Tuesday has surfaced, showing a cop point a gun right in the athlete’s face. Along with the disturbing escalation, the contents of the clip and Breeland’s reported Twitter response further raises questions to the details of the stop.
According to TMZ, the Kansas City Chief cornerback was arrested at about 11 a.m. at a South Carolina gas station after a York County Sheriff’s Office deputy says he saw the 28-year-old smoking marijuana. The cop says he stopped Breeland for questioning and that he became combative.
The video shows the incident escalating quickly. It shows the officer repeatedly trying to place Breeland in handcuffs, however, Breeland refuses. Eventually, the cop pulls out a taser on Breeland, demanding that he stop resisting. “Put your hands behind your back or you will get tased,” the officer said. “Turn around and face away from me! You’ll get tased!”
Breeland continues to ignore the officer, avoiding the cops attempts to put his hands behind his back. The whole time, the person recording the video can be heard saying “Bro, just cooperate.” At one point in the video, a woman approaches the officer and Breeland and the footballer can be heard telling her, “They can’t contain me.”
When Breeland tries to get into his vehicle, this is when the cop pulls out their gun and put it inches away from Breeland’s face. “Let me see your hands! … I’m not playing!” the cop yells.
Ultimately Breeland exits his car and gets on the ground, allowing the officer to place him in handcuffs. According to CBS Sports, he was booked on five charges, including resisting arrest, the transport of alcohol in a motor vehicle with a broken seal, open container of beer or wine in motor vehicle, possession of 28 grams or less of marijuana or 10 grams of hash, and driving without a license.
When reports of his arrest surfaced, Breeland posted a now-deleted tweet where he seemed to be insinuating that he was set up.
“Lot of people wanna speculate on my situation and don’t know the facts. I really was at a gas pump got approach by two guys, police pulled up they throw something (in) my car as police pulled up which the cop saw and I was the one detained wit charges that really shouldn’t be charged,” he said. “I’m not fighting to clear a name I don’t care wat [sic] people think, I know the truth, innocent until proven guilty.”
This account coincides with Breeland’s reaction in the video when he says “They can’t contain me.”
Breeland’s attorneys also said in a Wednesday statement, “At the time of this encounter with law enforcement, Mr. Breeland was leaving a gas station store after making a lawful purchase. Moments after returning to his vehicle, a 2020 Range Rover with valid temporary paper tags, law enforcement officers approached Mr. Breeland and drew their weapons. We look forward to investigating why this level of force was necessary.”
“Bashaud Breeland is innocent unless proven guilty. We look forward to the truth coming forward,” they added.
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he’s also seen the video of Breeland’s arrest and he’s talked with him after the incident. He concluded that he’ll let law enforcement handle the situation before taking any action.
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