Ex-NFL Player Choked During Arrest in Bystander Video

A former NFL player has posted a video of himself being thrown down and choked by police officers in what he is calling a false arrest, the Washington Post reports. Desmond Marrow, 30, writes on Facebook that "during the arrest the police knocked my teeth out, slammed me on my head and choked me out until I was unconscious" and claims that "this has affected me mentally and impacted my life in a way I can’t even humanly describe." The Dec. 2 bystander video, shot in a parking lot in Henry County, Georgia, shows two officers taking Marrow away as he protests, "I'm not even doing nothing. I'm not even fighting back." The cops slam him to the ground and stifle his screams by choking him. "I can't breathe!" Marrow cries. "I can't breathe!"

It all began when Marrow chased down another driver who had tossed a coffee cup at his car, per a police report. Police apparently showed up at McDonough shopping center outside Atlanta to find Marrow arguing with "several others"; when a witness accused Marrow of threatening to "shoot them," police arrested Marrow and the struggle started. Marrow was later charged with aggressive driving, reckless driving, and making terroristic threats. But his attorneys say the incident was sparked by a hate crime when "two white males" using "racial slurs" tossed the coffee, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. As for Marrow's football career, he played in the 2012 offseason with the Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccanneers, then had a short stint in the CFL. (More false arrest stories.)