Regarding Olympian and Taylor native Fred Kerley’s arrest last week by Miami Beach police: I was raised in Taylor and attended Taylor schools. I personally know him and his entire family. What took place in Miami Beach Jan. 2 raised many concerns.
The video footage is proof and all the evidence we need. The audio is cut in the beginning of the video so you cannot hear the exchange of conversation. The officers seemed to have wanted to provoke Kerley to get a reaction out of him.
There were four officers during the exchange. The cops blocked him in as he was trying to leave, only to be held against his will. There were multiple officers in front and one officer behind Kerley, chest bumping him and violating his personal space. As Kerley gently walks forward to remove himself from the uncomfortable situation, you see a hand come up from one of the officers blocking him, forcing him back. Kerley then knocks the officer’s hand down; you then see a second hand of one of the officers aggressively grab and push him back.
At this point Kerley clearly feels threatened by the actions of the police.
The very expected nature of a human is to defend oneself when threatened. As you can see in the video, Kerley is not using his hands to inflict pain or hurt any of the officers but is using his body instead to force his way through the obvious threat of danger.
We are not blind to the injustice that takes place at the hands of law enforcement in America. Being that it is the officers’ sworn duty by law to protect and to serve, there could have been a more professional way of handling and controlling the situation.
Four officers and one Fred Kerley, and the only thing these officers could think to do was use excessive force by throwing a flurry of punches, elbows and a hammer fist followed by a stun gun and Taser? These officers displayed a clear presentation of bully behavior.
Kerley’s girlfriend is seen screaming at the top of her lungs, pleading for the officers to stop. Another gentleman from the crowd steps forward out of worry and concern for Kerley, saying the athlete did nothing wrong. You then see Kerley angered after all of this went down; he is using profanity toward the police because, at that point, he was frustrated and under an extreme amount of stress due to the unrighteous acts of the officers.
This was a very embarrassing situation and moment for Kerley; they publicly took a shot at his pride and manhood. Kerley isn’t just any random young man — he is Taylor, Texas’ very own, the record-breaking American Olympic medalist. He doesn’t get into trouble and cause friction with law enforcement.
He is a very outstanding person, not only to his community, but also to his country, and serves a great purpose. Kerley overcame a lot growing up in Taylor to get where he is today, and we all hope and pray these officers get what they deserve. I would hate to see anyone go through what Kerley had to experience, but this isn’t just any average man, this is Fred Kerley Fred Kerley is one of ours.
Roberson, a longtime Taylor resident, is also a former youth pastor.
