Ex-tennis star James Blake detained, handcuffed in Manhattan after case of mistaken identity

[Betallsports]

Former American tennis star James Blake was tackled by police outside a New York City hotel on Wednesday in a case of mistaken identity.
As The New York Daily News reports, Blake was standing outside waiting for a car to Queens for the U.S. Open, when he saw a man approaching him. Via the Daily News:

“Maybe I’m naïve, but I just assumed it was someone I went to high school with or something who was running at me to give me a big hug, so I smiled at the guy,” Blake said. Blake said the officer, who he said was not wearing a badge, picked him up and threw him down on the sidewalk, yelled at him to roll over on his face and said, “Don’t say a word.
​

Blake was then cuffed and detained. Eventually, five members of the police, all white, showed at the scene. The final arrival realized Blake was not the suspect in a “identity theft ring operating around the midtown hotel.” After 15 minutes, the handcuffs were removed.




When asked if Blake thought his incident was race-based, the Harvard-educated tennis player, and a favorite of tennis fans and writers alike, gave a thoughtful answer:

“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 be 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, who once reached No. 4 in the ATP rankings, said he’d like an apology from the NYPD. He told the Daily News he didn’t want to his encounter public, but he felt he owed it to people who suffer such actions and don’t have a voice.

 

[DesertNole]

He is spot on, cops aren't doing anything these days to help win back the public trust

 

[StevieRay]

because they cant give the suspect a chance to be trigger happy, its their life on the line

 

[CoachCB]

And here comes the Race Card!

I like how the article points out all of the cops were white.....

 

[pocketrockets]

because they cant give the suspect a chance to be trigger happy, its their life on the line

It's a complicated subject... it's police brutality nonetheless... I would be outraged if this happened to me or my brother, wouldn't you?

 

[VIEJODINOSAUR]

What is wrong with hands up?

 

[PigskinArmor]

Recommending the suspect to not say a word would not be smart detective work.

 

[festeringZit]

Blake is a class act. I got to see him play on the senior's tour a few months back.

He's probably the only pro to ever break his back during a tennis match.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/james-blake-collides-with-a-net-post-2/


Primarily, he'll be remembered for his comeback. You know, the one that got him onto Oprah's couch and that led him to write his best-selling book, "Breaking Back."
If you're unfamiliar, in May, 2004, while practicing on a clay court in Rome with Robby Ginepri, Blake slipped and collided head-first into a net post, breaking his neck in the process. Later that summer, his father died of stomach cancer. Around that same time, Blake developed shingles, which temporarily paralyzed half of his face.

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Blake and Agassi hug after their epic 2005 U.S. Open match.

Lesser men would have quit then, and it would have been perfectly understandable. But not Blake. He kept trucking ahead, and he went on to forge a career that his father would have been proud of.
In the summer of 2005, just one year removed from the tragedy, he made the final of Washington, D.C., won the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven and made the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, where he lost to Andre Agassi in a classic match in the fifth-set tiebreaker on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In 2006, he briefly became the No. 1 American after he made the final of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. In 2007, on a team with future Hall-of-Famers Andy Roddick and the Bryan Brothers, Blake helped clinch the Davis Cup title for the United States.

 

[pocketrockets]

What is wrong with hands up?

+1

Seems like pure violence satisfaction...

 

[Ladeda]

Hard to defend the cops on this one. They fucked up.

 

[Mobdeeper7239]

because they cant give the suspect a chance to be trigger happy, its their life on the line

Lol People are getting shot by police after putting their hands up. More likely that the cop is a low life loser and wants to pay people back for not giving him respect and authority. So he gets scared in situations like these and he kills someone unarmed with their haands in the air. That is murder. This isn't about black or white. It is an authority thing. The cops are not trained where they need to be.

 

[HacheMan]

Lol People are getting shot by police after putting their hands up. More likely that the cop is a low life loser and wants to pay people back for not giving him respect and authority. So he gets scared in situations like these and he kills someone unarmed with their haands in the air. That is murder. This isn't about black or white. It is an authority thing. The cops are not trained where they need to be.

Dead on & exactly the reason half of cops (Not all) decide on that career.

Because they are control freaks, have or had self-esteem issues, and/or were the opposite of popular in school.

Just watch Lamar Lathon's traffic stop.

Perfect example of most cops' arrogance & sarcastic ways.

Lathon even tells the officer "Man this is how ppl get hurt"...suggesting the officer was being stupid.

Many will say the officer is simply following protocol & safety procedures, but that's BS...



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XT4KPVtTIlM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Mobdeeper7239]

Dead on & exactly the reason half of cops decide on that career.

Because they are control freaks, have or had self-esteem issues, and/or were the opposite of popular in school.

No doubt about it. I am not saying there aren't good cops...because there definitely are. But all it takes is one bad apple. He asks another to have his back and then they are all bad cops. Fuck this blue wall silence bull shit. Doesn't need to be one if the cops acted right or were trained appropriately. I always say and I don't care who disagrees because this shit is fact because I have lived it. Teachers are another shitty form of police. Not saying there aren't any good ones because there are. I honestly think teachers are even more important because you are dealing with kids who are developing and you can easily scar them. Try winning a battle vs a teacher or a school. You wont....they will go behind their blue wall of silence and plot until they win. Teachers and police officers are public services. These two occupations are two of the most important jobs in America, yet for some reason they are the easiest professions to become. Makes no sense.

 

[pocketrockets]

Lol People are getting shot by police after putting their hands up. More likely that the cop is a low life loser and wants to pay people back for not giving him respect and authority. So he gets scared in situations like these and he kills someone unarmed with their haands in the air. That is murder. This isn't about black or white. It is an authority thing. The cops are not trained where they need to be.

+1

 

[pocketrockets]

Dead on & exactly the reason half of cops (Not all) decide on that career.

Because they are control freaks, have or had self-esteem issues, and/or were the opposite of popular in school.

Just watch Lamar Lathon's traffic stop.

Perfect example of most cops' arrogance & sarcastic ways.

Lathon even tells the officer "Man this is how ppl get hurt"...suggesting the officer was being stupid.

Many will say the officer is simply following protocol & safety procedures, but that's BS...



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XT4KPVtTIlM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

+100

 

[Mobdeeper7239]

Dead on & exactly the reason half of cops (Not all) decide on that career.

Because they are control freaks, have or had self-esteem issues, and/or were the opposite of popular in school.

Just watch Lamar Lathon's traffic stop.

Perfect example of most cops' arrogance & sarcastic ways.

Lathon even tells the officer "Man this is how ppl get hurt"...suggesting the officer was being stupid.

Many will say the officer is simply following protocol & safety procedures, but that's BS...



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XT4KPVtTIlM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

He will get out of that ticket. I got pulled over and I said to the cop how fast was I going? He thought twice and gave me a warning. If you get a ticket for 12 mph over. ....always question it. Because more than likely it was fabricated. 10 is acceptable, 11 over is acceptable, 12 over and you get ticketed because you can't dispute 12 over in court. That's when you know it's bullshit and the cop didn't have his radar gun on. From my experiences.

 

[Dude]

The Daily News Headline confused me , when it said Tennis Great Blake arrested then let go.. Blake is a Tennis Great? Please

 

[Enfuego]

He is spot on, cops aren't doing anything these days to help win back the public trust

Not all cops are doing this. A very small percentage of cops are abusing their power or making blatant mistakes. In today's day and age, those mistakes and abuse are being blown up.

 

[HacheMan]

Not all cops are doing this. A very small percentage of cops are abusing their power or making blatant mistakes. In today's day and age, those mistakes and abuse are being blown up.

Kindly disagree with the small percentage.

Easily over half of cops abuse their power in some manner.

Of course some not to the extreme as others...

 

[pocketrockets]

Kindly disagree with the small percentage.

Easily over half of cops abuse their power in some manner.

Of course some not to the extreme as others...

+1
spot on