Former tennis star James Blake, 35, has been invited to meet with New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio today, around 6:00 p.m., to speak about his wrongful arrest, which was recorded on video.
Surveillance video of Blake's arrest Sept. 9 outside a Manhattan hotel shows the officer charge at Blake, grab him by the arm and roughly take him to the ground, according to ABC 7 News. Regarding the officer involved, Blake said he should be fired. Bratton and de Blasio apologized for this event, considered a case of mistaken identity by the officer involved.
The policeman mistook Blake for a black man suspected of credit card fraud, said police, according to the New York Times. After viewing the surveillance video, Bratton stated that an inappropriate amount of force was used for the arrest.
"[The officer] picked me up and body-slammed me and put me on the ground... told me to turn over and shut my mouth, and put the cuffs on me," Blake told "Good Morning America," according to Rolling Stone. After the video surfaced, many speculated that this was an issue of race. Blake is a biracial man who appears dark in complexion; the arresting officer is white.
