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2010 US Open Opening Night Ceremony

Source: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty

Will it ever end? For the past few years, the police force has been ostracized for an overly aggressive approach with African Americans. From Eric Garner, to Freddie Gray, to Michael Brown, you would think that cops would learn to ease up a bit after those horrific situations. Well, apparently, they haven’t gotten the memo yet as they tried to push their luck against former tennis star, James Blake.

According to The Daily News Blake was slammed to the ground and handcuffed by five police officers outside of his midtown hotel. Blake— who was heading to the U.S. Open— was swarmed by cops after they mistakenly confused him for another man who has been operating an identity theft ring around the area.

“It was definitely scary and definitely crazy,” Blake said.

First, one officer tackled Blake and handcuffed him. Then, they questioned his involvement in an identity theft ring after two people identified him as the culprit. Despite showing them his license and U.S. Open credential, Blake remained cuffed for 15 minutes.  Afterwards, one of the cops realized that Blake wasn’t the alleged suspect and released him. The cop who initially tackled and handcuffed him didn’t say a word following the incidence nor offered an apology to Blake.

“I don’t know if it’s as simple as that,” said Blake when asked whether he considered his situation to be a case of racial profiling. “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.”

The former #4 tennis player in the world suffered a cut on his left elbow and bruises on his left leg.

Blake is hoping for an apology from the NYPD. Will he get one? That remains to be seen.

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Former Tennis Star James Blake Gets Mistakenly Tackled & Handcuffed By White NYPD Cops  was originally published on theurbandaily.com