The Swiss-South African shooting guard of Atlanta Hawks, Thabo Sefolosha, has finally shared the details behind his arrest and how NYPD broke not just his leg, but as well as his spirit in the process. After a jury exonerated all of the charges against Sefolosha, he shared via GQ his side of the story highlighting NYPD's brutally.
Sefolosha via GQ exclusive interview narrated the series of events leading to his brutal arrest and injury. One important part of the interview was how the so-called altercation started, Sefolosha detailed that;
"An officer came over to me and said, 'Get the hell out!' I said, 'Did I do something wrong? You can talk to me in a nicer way.' I didn't quite understand why he had to come at us so hard when there were so many other people around. We moved, but he kept telling us to get the hell out. I told him we were listening to him: 'You are the police, but you don't have to act like you're the toughest guy on earth.' He said, 'With or without a badge, I can fuck you up.' Like, whatever. We're not about to find out. I'm the last guy who gets physical with anybody, especially the police. At the same time, I felt singled out for no reason. He was much shorter than me. [Sefolosha is six feet seven.] I said, 'You're a midget, and you're mad.' I voiced my opinion, but I kept moving.'"
The last thing that Sefolosha had in mind was to be in trouble with the NYPD. That's why when the police were almost provoking and challenging him, Sefolosha gave no reaction. He decided to get into a livery cab when according to him one of the officers instructed him to get out. Afterwards Sefolosha then heard one of the officers telling him that;
"'You're going to jail'." Pero (Pero Antic a teammate) tapped the officer on the shoulder and said, 'Relax, he didn't do anything.' Another officer pushed him in the chest and he fell. That's what the first YouTube video showed-him on the floor."
"Somebody kicked my leg, more than once, from the back to force me to the ground. I knew something had happened as soon as they did it; I'm an athlete, so I know how my body should feel. They were stepping on my foot, too, I guess to try to keep me there. I didn't feel like there was anything I could do to calm it down. I tried to show them I was cooperating. I tried."
Sefolosha then continued to narrate what happened to him after and the result of the incident and the alleged brutal forced used by the officers. He continued by saying that;
"I got X-rays that night from the Nets team doctor at Barclays Center. He said I had separated the ligament on the inside of my ankle, torn the ligaments on the front, side, and outside, and broken my fibula. As soon as he said that, I knew my season was over."
"I had surgery in Charlotte a week later. They went in and reattached the ligaments with a wire. They told me it would be months before I could go back on the court. For a time I couldn't even go upstairs and put my kids to bed. I had nightmares. I would wake up sweating in the middle of the night."
From his words, indeed the Atlanta Hawk player might not just have suffered a physical injury but as well as an emotional trauma. That is why Sefolosha moved to sue NYPD for $50 million. In the end of his interview, Sefolosha gave a reasonable warning to everyone. He stated that;
"It was an act of police brutality, and I believe it could happen to anyone. Now I'm a lot more aware of everything that goes on. I've been, I don't want to say disillusioned, but brought back to earth in a harsh way... In a situation like this, you are helpless. If there's six people jumping me outside of the club, I scream, 'Police, police!' If the police are doing this to me, who you want me to turn to?"