On Could 17, professional golfer Scottie Scheffler was taken into custody on expenses of second-degree assault on an officer, third-degree legal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding visitors alerts from an officer directing visitors. His interplay with law enforcement officials shortly grew to become a trending subject, one thing soccer quarterback turned sports activities analyst Robert Griffin III says he’s by no means witnessed earlier than. He was shortly confirmed flawed.
Early Friday morning, a pedestrian was fatally struck by a bus on the principle highway that led to Valhalla Golf Membership in Louisville, Kentucky. Upon his arrival, Scottie Scheffler, the World’s No. 1-ranked professional golfer, tried to go across the crash scene however was instructed by police to cease.
Scheffler was on his solution to Valhalla Golf Membership forward of the second spherical of the PGA Championship event. In accordance with the incident report, “Topic refused to conform and accelerated ahead, dragging Detective Gillis to the bottom.” The officer reportedly grabbed onto the facet of Scheffler’s automobile and suffered “ache, swelling, and abrasions” when the car accelerated. The golfer ultimately stopped his automobile as soon as he made it close to the golf membership’s entrance.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, who captured footage of the incident, stated, “Scheffler then stopped his car on the entrance to Valhalla. The police officer then started to scream at Scheffler to get out of the automobile. When Scheffler exited the car, the officer shoved Scheffler in opposition to the automobile and instantly positioned him in handcuffs.”
In a press release posted to his Instagram Tales, Scheffler known as the incident a “large misunderstanding.”
“This morning, I used to be continuing as directed by law enforcement officials. It was a really chaotic state of affairs, understandably so contemplating the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was an enormous misunderstanding of what I assumed I used to be being requested to do. I by no means meant to ignore any of the directions. I’m hopeful to place this to the facet and concentrate on golf at the moment. After all, all of us concerned within the event specific our deepest sympathies to the household of the person who handed away within the earlier accident this morning. It really places the whole lot in perspective.”
Scheffler was launched from police custody on the identical day and later teed off within the golf event.
As Scheffler grew to become a trending subject on X, former NFL quarterback and present ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III shared his response to the incident.
“By no means seen something like this Scottie Scheffler state of affairs in Golf earlier than or actually in any sport,” he tweeted.
The now-viral remark prompted some backlash from many sports activities followers who keep in mind Black athletes who’ve gone by a lot worse by the hands of the regulation.
One social media person provided a solution to Griffin’s query by recalling the time tennis participant James Blake was handcuffed and thrown to the bottom throughout a confrontation with regulation enforcement in 2015. Blake was en path to the annual U.S. Open tennis event on the time of the incident.
James Blake would additionally like a phrase:pic.twitter.com/NhTEAjtVIQ
— Mackattack408 (@mackattack408) Could 17, 2024
“NYPD broke an NBA participant’s leg,” one other particular person replied to Griffin in an obvious reference to Thabo Sefolosha’s incident with New York police in 2015. Sefolosha was taking part in for the Atlanta Hawks when NYPD tackled him down, breaking his leg and sidelining him for the season for giving a homeless man cash. He later settled a police brutality lawsuit and acquired a $4 million payout — a fraction of what he was asking for.
“These faucet sneakers gotta damage your toes,” tweeted an X person alongside a screenshot of a information article referencing former Milwaukee Bucks participant Sterling Brown, who was tased and arrested at a Milwaukee drug retailer for parking in spot marked for disabled drivers. Milwaukee police then mocked him on social media. He was later awarded $750,000 in an extreme pressure settlement
One other X person went additional again, proving that injustices in opposition to Black athletes is nothing new. “Corridor of Famer Dave Winfield was arrested in Toronto in 1983 for by chance killing a seagull with a thrown ball throughout a sport,” they tweeted.
Karen Russell, daughter of the legendary Boston Celtics Middle Invoice Russell, entered the chat to remind RG3 of the numerous run-ins her father had with police.
“I may tweet all day about my Dad, Invoice Russell, being pulled over by the cops for nonsense like driving whereas Black,” she stated. “Daddy had many causes for kneeling with @Kaepernick7!”
Griffin has been identified to completely embrace his unconventional character on-line, however that has generally put him on the middle of controversy.
Scheffler has made 4 appearances on the PGA Championship. After successful the Masters Match, he earned the extremely coveted inexperienced jacket twice, as soon as in April and once more in 2022.
