Michael Bennett case renews police race bias debate in Las Vegas

News

Las Vegas police Undersheriff Kevin McMahill watches body camera footage during a press conference on accusations by Seattle Seahawks player Michael Bennett, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Las Vegas. Bennett has accused Las Vegas police of racially motivated excessive force in a Twitter posting saying he was threatened at gunpoint following a report of gunshots at an after-hours club at a casino-hotel. Photo: Associated Press/(AP Photo/John Locher)

KEN RITTER, Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Debates about racial bias and police profiling turned this week to Las Vegas, where an NFL player who was detained at gunpoint and handcuffed by officers claimed he was the victim of racially motivated excessive force.

Professor Ronnie Dunn at Cleveland State University said Thursday that, for black men, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett’s treatment by police sounded familiar.

Dunn says black males represent what he calls “the symbolic assailant” in America.

The head of the local NAACP says she gets two to three complaints a week from people complaining they were detained or arrested by police because they’re black.

MORE: Bennett says being detained was ‘traumatic’

Las Vegas police say they’re investigating Bennett’s complaint.

But a top department official said Wednesday there’s no evidence race was a factor in Bennett’s detention early Aug. 27 outside a Las Vegas Strip casino.

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