NFL Player Targeted by Cops for Political Expression, Faces 10 years on Trumped-up Charges

Michael Bennett refuses to stand for ridiculous
ritual, police violence and racism. He faces
10 years in prison on trumped-up charges
brought by the Houston Police Department.

Land of the free, home of the brave? Bullshit

Dave Zirin has a column in Colorlines on the Houston police targeting of NFL star Michael Bennett in retaliation for Bennett's voicing his opinion on racism and the police violence.

Zirin's writing is his typically brilliant, piercing analysis.

His subject is a black man targeted by police in the age of the lunatic in the White House.

Michael Bennett faces 10 years, 10 years, in prison for a charge made up of whole cloth.

Bennett is also the victim of a premeditated character assassination project by the Houston Police Dept Chief, the odious Art Acevedo, (ThinkProgress).

From Zirin in Colorlines:

I co-wrote a memoir and manifesto with Philadelphia Eagle and outspoken political athlete Michael Bennett called “Things That Make White People Uncomfortable.” In the book, Bennett writes about being motivated by everyday injustices; food deserts in Black and Latinx communities, the tired eyes of the young people he visits in juvenile prisons, the fight against police violence, the need to link struggles against racism with movements to uplift women and stand up to gender violence.

I chose to work on this project because in 15 years of sports writing, I had never met an active athlete who was so able to critically examine his own sport and so willing to use his platform to speak for those silenced by violence. He’s a remarkable human being, the sort of person who if you know him, you understand the phrase, “ride or die.”

The book was released today (April 3), and we were set to embark on a multi-city tour together this week. Tickets had been purchased, venues were sold out. Especially exciting was the idea of going to Seattle, a city where Bennett won a Super Bowl ring and made three consecutive Pro Bowls, and is such a mainstay in the local nonprofit and activist worlds through his foundation that he earned the nickname Black Santa.

But all of that has been postponed, Bennett’s fearless voice temporarily muted, because he is fighting outrageous criminal assault charges out of Houston. I am not going to rehash the case. What’s important to me is that Bennett says he is innocent of these charges. That is enough for me. It’s also enough for many other people, both inside and outside the sports world who have signed a letter of support, including 1968 Olympian John Carlos, Angela Davis, Cornel West and Naomi Klein. ...