UPDATE:
The NYPDis reportedly launching an internal investigation into what happened with James Blake today.
See original story below.
James Blake isn't happy with the NYPD right now—and for good reason.
On Wednesday afternoon, the former tennis star, who was once ranked as high as No. 4 in the entire world, was standing outside of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, N.Y. waiting to head over to the U.S. Open when he noticed a man charging at him. He initially thought the man might be an old friend or a fan looking for a hug but, within seconds, Blake was on the ground and being handcuffed by a group of five white NYPD officers. They believed Blake was a suspect in an identity theft ring operating in the area and questioned him on the scene.
Eventually, the officers realized that Blake was not the suspect they were looking for and let him go after one of the officers apologized to him. However, Blake just did an interview with the New York Daily News and revealed that he's still upset about the way the officers handled the situation.
"It was definitely scary and definitely crazy," Blake said, before pointing out that he's not sure if he was racially profiled. "I don't know if it's as simple as that. To me, it's as simple as unnecessary police force, no matter what my race is. In my mind, there's probably a race factor involved, but no matter what, there's no reason for anybody to do that to anybody. You'd think they could say, 'Hey, we want to talk to you. We are looking into something.' I was just standing there. I wasn't running. It's not even close [to being okay.] It's blatantly unnecessary. You would think at some point they would get the memo that this isn't okay, but it seems that there's no stopping it."
Blake went on to say that he "didn't feel very safe" during the incident and that he wants to use it to shed more light on the excessive force that some police officers have used recently.
"I have resources to get to the bottom of this," he said. "I have a voice. But what about someone who doesn't have those resources and doesn't have a voice?"
Outside of one of the officers apologizing to Blake, there hasn't been a statement from the NYPD about the incident. Stay tuned for more details.
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[via New York Daily News]
