Former Marlins player says Miami Police are ‘always looking’ to ‘put their hands on athletes’ after Olympian’s arrest
Olympic athlete Fred Kerley was arrested Thursday night, and many videos of the incident have gone viral.
Bodycam footage showed the 2024 bronze medalist being tackled by police, while another angle showed one officer throwing punches while others held Kerley to the ground.
Kerley was taken into custody after police said he became angry when he tried to go to his car, which was near where police were questioning him.
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Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Fred Kerley (Image)
Bodycam footage obtained by TMZ Sports shows Kerley talking to officers before turning to another officer, who put his hand on Kerley’s chest, knocking him down. The officer then pushed Kerley with his other hand before a commotion broke out.
Former Miami Marlins player Jazz Chisholm Jr., who now plays for the New York Yankees, criticized the police for their actions.
“Miami Beach police are always looking for a way to put it there [sic] hands to the athletes! Sorry this happened to you Fred!” Chisholm posted on X.
Kerley faces charges of battery on a police officer, law enforcement officer or firefighter; resisting an officer without violence; and disordered behavior. He was released on his own recognizance.
Fred Kerley (USA) in the men’s 100 meters single heat race during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games at the Stade de France. (Andrew Nelles/USA Today Sports)
Kerley’s arrest on Thursday led to him facing charges of domestic violence and robbery in the May incident, when police issued an alert that may have been the trigger for their operation. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, Kerley and his wife got into a verbal, then physical, fight in May, on his birthday, when Kerley’s wife contacted “a stranger on Instagram.”
Kerley, the affidavit said, aggressively approached his wife and punched her out of fear, according to the affidavit. Kerley allegedly then “grabbed the victim, pushed him to the ground, put his arm around his neck and stopped him from breathing.”
The affidavit states that Kerley then stole his wife’s cell phone after placing her in a second cell. Kerley was not there when authorities arrived, and witnesses became uncooperative, police said.
The woman Kerley was with on Thursday, Cleo Rahman, has been arrested, and the two are said to be in a relationship. Rahman wrote “free my man” as his caption on the video of the officer punching Kerley.
“So when we were trying to get around in our car, the cop decided to push my boyfriend and get him out of the way, and then a big fight started,” Rahman, a rapper associated with DJ Sky High Baby, told NBC. Miami. “We were just trying to get to the car. We weren’t trying to interfere with the operation of the law or anything like that. It just got so crazy that (it took) four police officers to try and arrest him. It was really crazy.”
Fred Kerley (USA) reacts after competing in the men’s 100 meters semifinals during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games at the Stade de France. (Yukihito Taguchi/USA Today Sports)
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Kerley won a bronze medal in Paris this summer in the 100 meters, while teammate Noah Lyles he won his first Olympic gold. Kerley won the 2022 world championship in the event and silver at the Tokyo Olympics, and is also the world champion in the 4×400-meter relay in 2019 and the 4×100-meter relay in 2023.
Kerley was part of the 4×100 meter relay team in Paris that was disqualified due to a broken hand. Noah Lyles appeared to be part of that team but fell ill due to COVID, which resulted in him not being able to shorten the 200 meters, his favorite event.
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