The Jacksonville police department revealed bodycam footage that showcased new details from the wild brawl between officers and fans during Saturday’s Georgia-Florida contest, including one fan threatening to “kill a cop” and using a racial slur.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said his office’s professional standards division found his officers did not violate department policies in the altercations that resulted in the arrests of four individuals.
“In this case, the cell phone video that has been circulating since Saturday does not comprehensively capture the circumstances surrounding these instances and that’s to be expected,” Waters said.
Warning: Video contains unsettling language
The first arrest and incident involved two officers and one male fan.
Bodycam videos from two officers showed how they had been led to the top of EverBank Stadium to help with the ejection of one fan, identified as Walter Brown, who did not want to leave.
“You remember I told you, I’m either going to kill a cop or not leave. One or the other,” Brown said to a woman standing in the row above him.
After a taser gun is unholstered, the fan said: “Tase me.”
One officer attempted to calmly persuade Brown to leave, with the fan countering that he did nothing wrong according to the law and a woman tried to kidnap his children.
Brown said he would not leave with all five of his children present, to which the officer responded that he could leave with the kids or go to jail.
“I’ll go to jaiI. I don’t give a f–k, Cause I’m going to f–king beat your ass,” Brown said while identifying the officer by his name on his uniform.
When one of the officers touched the man while he argued, he used a racial slur toward the officer.
That officer then tased Brown while the other attempted to put hand cuffs on him, which did not go well.
Brown rose in anger, unleashing several more racial slurs while telling the officer to take his gun out. A man and woman behind him tried to calm the fan down but to no avail.
Another taser shot stunned Brown, and that’s when the incident turned physical as the officers attempted to place handcuffs on the fan.
One of the videos the police released showed Brown grabbing for an officer’s gun during the melee, although he could not unholster the weapon.
It appeared Brown also said during the arrest “Ya’ll getting sued” and “I’m fixing to get rich.” He later repeatedly claimed that he didn’t do anything.
Some fans in the section then started taunting the officers, claiming they would be losing their jobs.
The second incident happened on the field level.
A Georgia fan approached one of the officers saying someone asked if she could send someone to him, and one fan told an officer “help this guy out” while he walked down toward the person in question.
What appeared to be a security official said he needed three fans removed.
One of the fans, indentified as Michael Long, said they were just “having fun” and tried to pin the blame on other fans.
“We’ve been great guys,” Long said. “It’s not us.”
Three officers ultimately arrived to the scene and things went off the rails quickly.
An officer said to one of the fans “don’t touch me” while Long asked him why he was being removed. He then walked away and went back to his seat.
One officer then came down to grab Long, who resisted, and then a mini-scuffle broke out.
The officer appeared to then start swinging at Long.
Another fan, identified as Alexander Long, wrapped his arm around another officer and the fan ultimately ended up pinned to the ground.
Michael received several more blows while fans yelled out in shock.
One of the officers could be heard saying “don’t swing.”
As the officer pinned down Alexander, he told him to put his right hand on his back and threatened him.
“I’m fixing to tase you, you better put your hand back,” the officer said.
Alexander repeatedly said “I can’t move’ and “I didn’t do anything” while being handcuffed.
One officer then said one of the fans put his hands on an officer.
The third fan seemingly put his hand on one of the officers before another fan actually grabbed him by his neck from behind and pulled him backwards over a seat to neutralize him.
That fan was also handcuffed and removed.
