Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is suing the City of Tampa, Florida, alleging that his civil rights were violated. He also shared a video of a crazy confrontation with the Chairman of the City Council and multiple police officers while he was inside City Hall.
Sapp filed a complaint against the City of Tampa, according to the Herald-Tribune. The lawsuit comes about a week after he was told to leave or face arrest for allegedly disrupting a City Council meeting.
In the footage, when an officer asks Warren Sapp if he was done with his business at City Hall, Sapp replies that he is not. The officer then asks him what other business he has to do there, and Sapp tells him, “I don’t need to explain my business in a public office to you.”
Alan Clendenin, Chairman of the Tampa City Council, then opens a door and yells, “Get out!” In response, Sapp laughs, gives Clendenin the finger. The Chairman then tells Sapp that if he doesn’t leave, he will have police escort him out of the building.
Sapp replies, “I am refusing your request.” He then tells the officer that he doesn’t care what Clendenin said.
“What crime have I committed? I’m in a public place,” Sapp tells the police officer who is trying to get him to leave the premises.
The officer informs Sapp that he interrupted a city council meeting and that the council chairman has ordered him to leave.
“Let me call my assistant chief,” Sapp said, then told the officer to “relax yourself” and made a shushing sound.
“You’re not going to tell me to shhh,” the officer said to Sapp, whose phone call to his “assistant chief” went unanswered.
Sapp then put his feet on a coffee table in front of him.
“Respect a place if you’re going to sit in it,” another officer said to Sapp, who responded by giving him the finger and laughing.
The video concludes with an officer threatening to arrest Sapp for trespassing if he doesn’t get up and leave.
This is not the first time that Warren Sapp has allegedly been a nuisance at Tampa City Hall
Back in May, police charged the former NFL star with one count of interference with city employees in the performance of official duties. Additionally, they instructed Warren Sapp to stay at least 500 feet away from building staff and to avoid interaction with victims or witnesses after he allegedly interfered with and harassed city employees in Hollywood, Florida.
After being repeatedly informed by a Hollywood police lieutenant that he was not permitted to shoot video inside an official police area, Sapp allegedly refused to stop filming. Another court document stated that Sapp returned to the Hollywood Police Department a few weeks later. He was “rude, hostile, and intimidating” while he was there, according to a statement made by a city employee.
In a video later posted on Instagram, Warren Sapp said he was “just trying to do right,” adding that he wanted “to see what was happening in my City Hall where we pay a lot of money and they gave themselves a raise.” He also claimed that police officers assaulted him while at the station and that he filed a complaint with internal affairs.
Sapp also said they moved his case to the “mental health division” and laughed when the interviewer asked him if he is mentally unwell.