When U.S. Olympic runner Fred Kerley was arrested on Miami Beach, officers punched and tased him

Olympic runner Fred Kerley of the United States was violently confronted by Miami Beach police, who tased him and took him into custody.

The Miami Beach Police Department released body camera footage of the tense January 2nd confrontation. In an attempt to go to his neighboring car, Kerley was told to avoid a busy police scene.

After a violent disagreement broke out, there were physical altercations. The athlete was tasered, wrestled to the ground, and accused of battery, resisting an officer, and disruptive behavior by the officers.

One officer is shown striking the 29-year-old repeatedly as he is on the ground in another account of the incident that Kerley’s girlfriend, DJ Sky High Baby, tweeted.

Robert Griffin III, a former NFL quarterback, denounced the arrest on Twitter, describing it as a “complete overuse of force.”

That same Fred Kerley, who recently ended the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a representative of the United States and won a bronze medal in the 100-meter event. When you return home to needless beatings like these, how can you represent your country? Griffin posted a tweet.

Yale Sanford, Kerley’s defense lawyer, agreed with Griffin and condemned the police’ behavior during his bond hearing.

“Any reasonable force was completely overused in this situation,” Sanford stated. “Mr. Kerley is an exceptional athlete and exemplary citizen. This is just an overreaction on the part of the police.

In defense of the department, Officer Christopher Bess said, “The defendant escalated it by using physical force, despite our officers’ attempts to de-escalate.”

Despite the controversy, Kerley, who won silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and bronze at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, is still a well-known figure in American track and field. Since then, he’s been out of jail.