Michael Bennett says incidents like the one he faced in Las Vegas is ‘why I sit down’

Michael Bennett spoke to reporters in Seattle on Wednesday after sharing his account of police brutality that he faced in Las Vegas.

“Any moment I could have made the wrong decision,” Bennett told reporters, still clearly shaken from the horrifying incident. “The Seahawks would be wearing the patch with No. 72 on it,” Bennett said, indicating that he could have been killed on Aug. 27.

After the Mayweather-McGregor fight on Aug. 26, Bennett and others he was with ran for safety after hearing what sounded like gun shots. Police then singled him out, where Bennett says they pointed a gun at his head, jammed a knee into his back, and handcuffed him so tightly that his fingers went numb. After spending time in the back of a police car, Bennett was released without justification for their actions.

“People ask why I sit down [during the national anthem] and this is why,” Bennett said. “This is the things that people go through that look like me.”

Bennett called the incident with police a traumatic experience for him and his family, and wanted to reiterate that while he doesn’t think all policemen are bad, he does believe that some people are judged on the color of their skin.

“I’m just focused on trying to push forward and keep continuously champion the quest for justice for people,” Bennett said. “Keep pushing equality for oppressed people, that’s just what I’m about and will keep doing.”

Head coach Pete Carroll spoke before Michael Bennett, where he read a statement that would tweet soon after his time with the media:

When asked about Bennett first telling him of the incident, Carroll said that Bennett was emotional. “He was trying to convey what had taken place and how it affected him and how he was so changed by it.”

Richard Sherman spoke after Bennett, and said that it was an unfortunate situation. “No amount of money, no amount of fame, no amount of notoriety that could keep things like that from happening to you,”

“We’re just happy that he’s alive,” Sherman said.

Sherman also said regarding Bennett’s national anthem protest, “They want to be more angry at the action than the message.” He feels that people are too concerned with Bennett sitting during the anthem, instead of focusing on why he’s sitting. “People aren’t even getting the point.”

“Hopefully people will start to do the necessary things that it takes to make a change,” Sherman said.

Despite the horrific incident that he experienced, Bennett has been reminding himself that he was fortunate things were not worse.

“I think about Trayvon Martin, I think about Charleena Lyles, I think about Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, too many different people that had a similar experience that I had and they’re not here to tell their story.”

Bennett’s trying to move past it and put his energy towards football, with the Seahawks opening the season against the Packers this week. “I’m just letting my legal team and my reps take care of it,” he said.

“I got great people around me, I thank the organization for the support,” Bennett said. “But it’s bigger than me.”