Among the prominent players to sit for the national anthem, Bennett was leaving the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor last month in Las Vegas. After he heard what sounded like gunshots, the cops had pointed their guns at Bennett while others were fleeing the scene.

Bennett's story

Bennett had posted his story to Twitter outlining the incident. Bennett was forced to the ground with threats to "blow his (expletive) head off" if he moved at all. Another cop came and had his knee forced into Bennett's back, then handcuffs were tightly put on him.

After only hearing of who they had detained only just 10 minutes ago, was he released. The police said they were responding to an assault with a weapon which then turned into an active shooting. The Las Vegas police said that Bennett had fit the description of the suspect based off the given information and say race placed no role in this.

Emotionally distraught

Bennett's night had ended poorly, he was convinced he was going to die due to his race, fearing for also his wife and children. Civil rights attorney, John Burris, was hired by Bennett to take legal action against the LAPD. He said in a statement that he was outraged that any person was targeted, and it should not have mattered that Bennett was a football player.

Bennett had joined other NFL players in sitting for the national anthem in protest against police brutality, he just never imagined he would fall victim to racial profiling and excessive force used by officers. "The officers' excessive use of force was unbearable," Bennett said in a statement, "I felt helpless as I lay there on the ground handcuffed facing the real-life threat of being killed.

All I could think of was 'I'm going to die for no other reason than I am black and my skin color is somehow a threat.'" However, the LAPD claims that this is not true.

"Race did not play a role in this"

Undersheriff Kevin McMahill claims that race did not play a role in the event. “I see not evidence that race played any role in this incident,” McMahill said to the press that the situation was explained to Bennett, who had understood and complied, he also added that the officer's body cam was not on at the time, however hundreds of cellphone videos have poured in and the department is still welcoming more videos to be sent in.

A local police union has called for an investigation of Bennett's "false allegations". However, Bennett has seen the support from fans and ex-quarterback for the 49ers, Colin Kapernick. Kapernick described the situation as unjust and will continue to protest racial injustice. Bennett also will continue to sit for the anthem until he sees "freedom and equality" as he described.
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