New Video Footage Appears To Show Sheriff’s Deputy Being ‘Initial Aggressor’ And Shoving Raptors President Masai Ujiri During 2019 NBA Finals

During last year’s NBA finals Raptors President Masai Ujiri was accused of pushing and striking a Sheriff’s deputy while trying to get on the court after the team won the championship.

Via SF Chronicle

A sheriff’s deputy was allegedly pushed and struck in the face by a Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri who was trying to make his way to the court after Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena Thursday, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said.

The incident occurred moments after the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors to give Canada its first-ever NBA championship. Sheriff’s officials said the deputy denied the executive access to the court because he didn’t have proper credentials.

(The deputy) did not know who the man was and asked for the credential, and that’s when he tried to push past our deputy, and our deputy pushed him back, and there was another push that kind of moved up and struck our deputy in the face,” Kelly said. “At that point, several bystanders intervened and the executive did ultimately get back onto the court without displaying credentials.”

We now have video evidence of what went down on that night.

In the video, Ujiri appeared to have his credentials out when the deputy tried to stop him. The officer was then seen on the video shoving Ujiri twice and yelling ‘back the fuck up” before Ujiri shoved him back.

Here’s the bodycam footage of the incident.

https://twitter.com/diamond83/status/1295898422625566727?s=12

And here’s the security footage.

The videos were released by Ujiri’s legal team who are fighting a lawsuit from the Sheriff’s deputy who alleges the Raptors’ President has a “violent predisposition” and shoved him so hard he sustained physical injuries to his head.

Via KTVU

But in February, Strickland filed a federal lawsuit against Ujiri, the Raptors, Maple Leaf Entertainment at the NBA alleging Ujiri shoved him so hard on the court that he suffered physical injuries to his head, jaw, chin and teeth.

Strickland also filed a workers’ compensation claim alleging Ujiri “circumvented” the security checkpoint and then tried to “storm” the court and “hit him in the face and chest with both fists.”

Strickland also claimed Ujiri had a “violent predisposition” and acted with an “evil motive amounting to malice,” according to his suit and workers’ compensation claims.

The Raptors released a statement to say the videos show the Sheriff’s deputy was the “initial aggressor” during the incident.