UPDATE: The NYPD has released the surveillance footage of Blake’s arrest, and it isn’t pretty. The former tennis star went on Good Morning America yesterday morning and claimed that not only did the arresting officer not have a badge, but he didn’t reveal that he was law enforcement “at no time.”


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ORIGINAL STORY:

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New York Daily is reporting that former tennis star James Blake was “slammed to the ground, handcuffed and detained by five plainclothes city cops Wednesday outside his Midtown, NYC hotel before heading out to the U.S. Open.

The white officers mistook Blake for a suspect in an identity theft ring operation around the Midtown hotel.

The incident took place outside the Grand Hyatt on East 42nd St. around noon, as Blake waited for a car to escort him to Flushing Meadows for the U.S. Open.

Blake was asked if he believed that his detainment was due to racial profiling:

“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.”

After being handcuffed for about 15 minutes, Blake said the last of the five officers realized they had the wrong person and apologized. The first officer who tackled and cuffed him however, never said anything.

Blake seems as if he has a will to press the issue on this situation, saying “I have resources to get to the bottom of this. I have a voice.”

King Jut (@KingJut92)